His visage was so marred more than any man.'.' — Is. Hi. : 
d His Face did shine as the sun." — Matt, xvii : 2. 



THE 

FACE OF JESUS; 

OB, 

THOUGHTS FOR THE MATURE 

CONCEENING THE 

NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



A BELIEVER IN THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF 
DIVINE REVELATION. 



"And it was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin." — John xix : 20. 

" This is my body which is given for you." — Luke xxii : 19. 

11 This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many/' 

— Mark xiv : 24- 



iflV fort: 
R. WORTHINGTON, 770 BROADWAY. 




APR 4 1883 



WAS 



F. PITMAN, 20 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
1883. 



[ALL rights reserved. 



0^ 



"Seek the Lord and His strength ; seek His Pace 
evermore."— Ps. cv. i. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by Wm. Hobatio Clarke, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



/ 



THE ORDER OF CONTENTS- 



PAR. 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . • ... ... . . . . 1 

The Face of Jesus „ 14 

The Preparation for Regeneration 28 

The Retrospect . . . . 53 

The Religious Teacher . . . . . . 68 

The Miraculous Conception .. . . . . 80 

Serious Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 

The Literal Sense of the Word 93 

Flesh and Blood 99 

The Son of Man 117 

The Crucifixion 125 

The Son of God 139 

The Human Form 142 

The Trinity in One 155 

Abstract Spiritual Principles . . . . 163 

The Internal Sense . . . 174 

Degrees of Order . . . . . . . . . . 178 

Triune Principles of the Word . . . . 185 

The Love of Self the Origin of Evil 190 

The Love of the World 196 

The Form of the Literal Sense of the Word 207 

The Brazen Age 3 or Natural Degree . . . . . . . . . . 214 

The Silver Age, or Spiritual Degree . . . . . . . . . . 216 

The Golden Age, or Celestial Degree .. .. .. .. ..219 

The Style of the Literal Sense . . . . » 221 

The First Chapter of Genesis . . . . . . 225 

States 227 

The First Day of Creation 236 

The Proprium ot Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 

The Second Day of Creation . . . . . 278 

The Rational Faculty . . ... 280 

The Opening of the Rational Faculty . . . . 288 

The Formation of the Rational Faculty . . . . 292 

The Material Degree of the Mind . . . . 296 

The Maternity of the Virgin Mary 311 

Prayer 327 

The Lord's Prayer 333 

The Third Dav of Creation ... .. . ... fc , x . _ , ..351 



iv THE ORDER OF CONTENTS. 

The Two Affections . . .... . . . . 361 

Correspondences . . 369 

Trees .. .. 373 

Numbers 390 

The Birth of the Holy Child 395 

Miracles . . . . , . . . . . . . . 442 

Divine Worship . . . . 457 

Idolatry „• ... . . . . 484 

Music and the Sound of the Voice . . . . 489 

The Influences of Angels and Spirits . . . . . . . . . . 502 

The Order of Spiritual Descent . . . . • . . . . . . . . 518 

The Corporeal Principle of the Mind . . . . 538 

The Material Body of the Lord 551 

A Miracle of the Third Day 563 

The Fourth Day of Creation 613 

Interior Motives \ • 623 

Spiritual Quarters . . . . . . 653 

The Consecration of the Holy Child . . . . • 658 

Baptism and Circumcision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660 

The Book of Life . . . . . . . . 669 

Offering Sacrifice 677 

The Fifth Day of Creation 689 

The Infancy of Jesus - 706 

Interpretation of Scripture . . . . . . . . 712 

The Light of Nature 722 

The True Source of Intellectual Culture 728 

Dreams and Visions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734 

The Parts of Galilee . . . . 756 

The Sixth Day of Creation . . 767 

Pleasures . . . . . . 776 

The Form of Heaven . . . . 792 

Marriage . . . . 808 

Adultery • . . 824 

The Holy Supper . . . . . . 833 

The Transfiguration . . . . 845 

The Last Temptation 858 

The Sabbath ..868 

The Life of Regeneration 873 

The Pulpit and the Press ' . . 879 

Conclusion . . . . ■ • • • • • . . - • • . • • 889 
Summary . • 905 



INTRODUCTION, 



§1. The thoughts expressed in these pages are not 
self-intelligent opinions derived from fanciful or spec- 
ulative metaphor, but they are founded upon the 
coherent internal understanding of that Word of Eter- 
nal Life which the Lord has given to men. 

2. A thoughtful comparison of the different portions 
of the Word of God, with the mind divested of pre- 
conceived or traditional ideas, may reveal to the rational 
intelligence glimpses of the Divine Truth which may 
be found within, and illustrated by the Word from its 
own pages. 

3. In order to perceive Divine Truth, the first requi- 
site on the part of the reader is a life in the constant 
effort to shun all evil, both in will and thought, because 
it is wrong, and thus is in opposition to the Divine 
Laws which have been given for the elevation of man's 
spiritual nature; with an inward acknowledgment, 
that all life and spiritual thought are from the Lord ; 
that man in himself alone is helpless, and that all the 
power to overcome evil is from Him alone. 

4. Those only who possess this first requisite will 
perceive truth in the thoughts here written concerning 
the nature of the Divine Word ; for in order that in- 
terior truth may enter the mind, there must be an in- 
nocent state of life, in which one feels that he knows 
nothing, and that he is simply a receptacle of life and 
thought. " Blessed are the pure in heart : for they 
shall see God." 



John S : 27 
Ps. 127 : 1 



6 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Requisites for comprehension. 



Prove by comparison. 



Rev, 2 : 17 



5. The second requisite is, that these thoughts shall 
be tested by their harmony with the simple truth of 
the Word, which is, " The Lord our God is one Lord : 
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, 
and with all thy strength. This is tlie first command- 
ment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt 
love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none oilier 
commandment greater than these" and not by their 
agreement with some cherished doctrine ; for there are 
popular religious theories and systems in existence 
even at the present time, which tend to obscure this 
fundamental law of spiritual life, on which rests " all 
the lavj and the prophets." 

6. If the tendency of these thoughts is to lead us 
more into the love of self and the world, and thus 
away from the Lord, or the Word, then are they false 
and should meet with condemnation, for they would 
be dangerous to spiritual life. But if they lead the 
mind to perceive in the Divine Revelation a satisfac- 
tory internal evidence that it is inspired Truth, thus 
placing it upon a higher plane of thought, so that we 
shall not only delight in searching for its hidden trea- 
sures, but obey the written Precepts, and thus be led 
to the Living Word, the Lord Himself, then, when the 
book is finished, the judgment of the candid reader 
will readily determine whether these principles are 
good and true, or are the invention of man, and are 
thus evil and false. 

7. To those only who possess a thorough knowledge 
of the literal contents of the Sacred Scriptures, and 
whose minds are capable of mature reflection from 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



7 



Order of study. Salvation from sin. The Advent of the Lord. 



many years of living experience, will the summary of 
these thoughts find a sympathetic response. Not only 
should the marginal references be examined, but as far 
as possible each statement should be verified by means 
of a Concordance, and the following paragraphs and 
pages should be read and studied consecutively. 

8. In this progressive order the mind may perceive 
from internal spiritual evidences, that the principles 
of Divine Love and Wisdom contained within the 
Word, applied to the life by obedience to them, will 
save a man from his sins, or from the love of self, 
which is the origin of all sin ; — that this Divine Love 
and Wisdom is embodied in the Word in the name and 
by the representation of the life of the Lord Jesus 
Christ as the Son of God and Son of Man ; — that the 
Lord Jesus Christ and the Word are identical, and that 
the Word is the body of the Lord, or His "flesh and 
blood " within the life of a regenerate man. 

9. This Word, or the Divine Love and Wisdom, was 
" in the beginning," and " tvas God," and is the " Life 
which is the light of men, the true Light which lighteth 
every man which cometh into the world." This Word 
is the " bread ivhich cometh doivn from heaven" The 
man who feeds upon its Divine truths by learning and 
obeying them, will be nourished and grow up into 
spiritual life, or in the image and likeness of God, 
which is salvation from sin. 

10. The Lord comes into the world, or what is the 
same thing, the Word is given both to the material 
and spiritual mind, for this purpose, for it treats only 
concerning spiritual principles, and has no connection 
with physical-material science or things in the natural 



8 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



A Book of Spiritual Science. 



Personification of the Word. 



world excepting by comparison or analogy for the sake 
of illustration. This Word " was made flesh," or a 
living principle of spiritual life, " and dwelt among us." 
" lam the living bread which came down from heaven ; 
if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever, and 
the bread that I ivill give, is my flesh, which I will 
give for the life of the world. For my flesh is meat 
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed! 1 

11. The Word contains a living Human Principle, 
by obedience to which a man's spirit will be re-created, 
and in the work of regeneration, the enlightenment of 
the rational faculty by the revelation of the Internal 
Sense of the W T ord is represented by the birth, life and 
passion of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man, 
and the Son of God, or the Divine Human Principle of 
the Word in the man who is being regenerated. 

12. The Divine Truth, or the Lord is thus personified 
with a Living Face and made sentient to the material 
mind, so that the interior spiritual faculty enclosed 
within, may extract and feed upon the interior truth 
thus embodied within the literal sense or covering, 
which is upon the Face of the Word. 

13. In order to see the " brightness of His glory " as 
it shines from within the Word, we " must become as 
little children," conscious of our ignorance in ourselves, 
and depending rationally upon the Lord for enlighten- 
ment. To the mature " little ones " who may be aided 
in finding coherence and unity in the Internal Sense 
of the Word of God, by which alone its Divinity can 
be proved, these pages are thoughtfully inscribed. 

" The Lord make His Face to shine upon thee, 
and ee gracious unto thee," 



THE FACE OF JESUS. 



14. It is not pleasant to gaze upon the face 
of the dead, for there is neither life nor expres- 
sion within the pale countenance by which 
thought may be communicated to others ; and 
often, when the covering is tenderly and hesita- 
tingly turned down, we are filled with grief and 
sorrow, and wish that we had not looked upon 
those rigid features which were once flushed 
with animation ; for the person whom we loved 
is not there, and the cold form must be carried 
away out of sight. 

15. There is one Face which loving hearts 
and eyes do not shrink from beholding, and the 
more it is gazed upon, the more its beauty and 
glory will appear, for it communicates life and 
light to those who reverently uncover, and de- 
voutly look. 

16. During the centuries of the past, many 
hands of artistic genius have endeavored with 
skilful crayon and brush to portray the coun- 
tenance of the " King of kings, and Lord of 
lords" They could not reproduce what they 
had not seen, and the results of their talented 
efforts have simply been representations of the 
visage of a suffering man, whose pitiful expres- 
sion touches our hearts with emotion. 



Ps. 89 : 48 
Ps. 39 : 11 
Is. 38 : 17 



Jer. 22 : 10 
Heb. 2 : 15 
Is. 25 : 8 
Luke 24 : 5 
1 Cor. 15 : 42 



Ps. 27 : 8 

Ps. 105 : 4 
Matt. 17 : 2 
Matt. 10 : 26 
Is. 38 : 19 



1 John 4 : 12 
Exod. 33 : 20 
John 1 : 18 

Is. 53 : 3 



10 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Pictures cf Jesus, 



The Face indicates character. 



17. We turn from these pictures of Jesus 
with a dissatisfied and pained feeling, and wish 
that those faces had been called by some other 
name, for they are but likenesses of the mental 
conceptions of the painters, fitted to some 
earthly model whom they have seen or ima- 
gined. Such delineations of the Son of Man, 
in themselves, are dead, for apart from the can- 
vas, they are only representations of grief, 
tender love, and the yearning for that sympathy 
which we would gladly give to those patient 
expressive faces, were we able to extend it by 
our personal presence. 

18. These faces of Jesus are produced from 
the minds of the artists, by the contemplation 
of the story of the Evangelists as related in the 
Gospels, but no earthly painter will ever live 
who can design either the features or form of 
the Lord Jesus Christ as a physical man in 
time or space, for no man has ever thus seen 
Him, nor will He ever thus appear, and every 
attempt to personify Him in this form, will des- 
troy all perception of His Omnipresence, with- 
out which He would not be Divine. 

19. When we look into a living human face, 
there is imparted to us an intuition of the qual- 
ity of the life of the man whom we behold, 
although we may at first be somewhat hasty in 
our judgment ; but if men were constantly 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



11 



Beautiful Faces. 



Inward quality. 



living according to the laws of spiritual order, 
the interior qualities of their minds would be 
manifested by the shape and expression of their 
countenances. 

20. Those who would then possess affection 
for, and intelligence in the spiritual truths of 
the Word, would have beautiful faces in which 
there would be no trace of pride or vanity. 
The eyes would beam with love and wisdom, 
and with the gentleness of the dove. The 
brow would have no frowning wrinkles ; the 
cheeks would not be wreathed in hypocritical 
smiles, and the mouth would not indicate sen- 
suality and selfishness. 

21. But since mankind from the early ages 
have disobeyed the laws of Divine Order, the 
face does not truly represent the real man 
within, and we must be charitable in our opin- 
ion of others, especially until we can know 
something of the quality of the interior motives 
of their lives. 

22. We are charmed with a beautiful face, 
but often learn that it is but a covering for a 
hypocritical and false life, whereas in the plain 
and homely countenance we learn to appreciate 
the life of the man within, and we are led to 
love him for his inward qualities instead of the 
exterior face. Our love for others must be 
deeper than the external face, for when the [ e cc i. 12:1-7 



12 



THE FACE OF JESUS 



The marred visage. 



Where the Divine Face may be seen. 



Is. 46 : 4 



Ps. 71:9 



Ps. 51 : 5 



Ps. 51 : 6 



Ps. 37 : 23 



Matt. 13 : 43 



Is. 32 : 



Mai. 3 : 18 



John 14 : 9 



John 1 : 18 



Is. 64 : 4 



John 1 : 41 



John 1 : 45 



Matt. 1 : 16 



Ps. 104 : 24 



Rev. 22 : 14 



Is. 60 : 1 



Ps. 19 : 8, 9 



years of infirmity arrive, the brightness of the 
eye will be dimmed, and decay will mark its 
inevitable progress with pallor and furrows. 

23. Although the visage may be marred by 
the evil lives of ancestors, or by sickness or 
injuries, yet the love which animates the good 
man warms his countenance with affection, and 
his eyes are filled with the lustre of intelligence, 
so that his whole face shines with light to those 
who know and love him, because they have 
similar qualities of life. The evil man does not 
recognize this warmth and brightness, but 
attributes all the intentions and actions of the 
good man to the same motives by which his 
own life is governed, until he is convinced to 
the contrary. 

24. The Face of the Lord is seen only in the 
"Word which He has given and preserved 
among mankind. To those who here see Him, 
and whose lives are warmed and guided by the 
truth here painted, " His Face doth shine as the 
San," for they perceive within this Face, those 
interior qualities of Love and Wisdom from 
which the names Jesus and Christ are derived, 
which prove from this interior or spiritual 
source, that through all the ages of the past 
spiritual history of man, " the Word was God';' 
and the only evidence which reveals to the per- 
plexed mind that it is from a supernatural 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF. GOD. 



13 



The painted face. 



The Living Fac^e. 



origin is to be found from that interior light 
which causes " His Face to shine." 

25. To those whose lives are not principled 
in the simple commandments of life which may 
be read upon this very Face of the Lord, there 
is no true light shining from within, and His 
Face appears to them painted like the counten- 
ance of a common man like themselves, an out- 
growth of their own imagination. 

26. In order to behold the Face of Jesus, let 
us thoughtfully follow the progress of a serious 
and earnest man who has come to Him by 
night, and who cannot yet see His Face, keep- 
ing our minds fixed upon this one person, who 
will in the succeeding pages, be called a regen- 
erating man, and as far as possible bring him 
close to our own hearts, so that we may observe 
his various states of mind and internal experi- 
ences, as he is led by the Lord by means of 
instruction from the Word, to be prepared for 
the first and succeeding states of regeneration, 
until the Face of Jesus becomes illuminated 
and shines as the sun. 

27. Many devout readers may perceive that 
this serious man is representative of their 
own inward life and desires, and through 
his spiritual journey of trials and blessings, 
be also led to see the Living Face of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 



THE 

PREPARATION FOR REGENERATION. 



Johu 18 : 33 



Ps. 90 : 12 
Ps. 39 : 13 
Ps. 86 : 11 
Ps. 39 : 4 
Exod. 33 : 20 
Ps. 18 : 2 
John 6:68-9 
Heb. 11 : 1 

P . 31 : 1 
2 Tim. 1 : 12 

Amos 5 : 14 
Ps. 63 : 3 
Amos 5 : 15 
Rom. 6 : 23 
Rom. 7 : 15 
Deut. 30 : 15 
Rom. 12 : 21 

Ps. 18 : 21 
Ps. 34 : 22 
Nahum 1 : 7 



28. After many years of mental conflict, as 
the appearances of truth which were implanted 
in the mind during the period of early educa- 
tion begin to be dissipated, and the thoughtful 
moods of maturity cast their serious rays over 
the future, there often flows into the mind an 
intense yearning to know what is really true, in 
which the spiritual nature shall rest as upon a 
solid Rock, in the utmost security of a rational 
faith, both in relation to this world and the im- 
mortal life beyond. 

29. While in this state of mind, there is no 
doubt in regard to the existence of an Infinite 
God, nor in His Divine Providence, neither is 
there any doubt but that a good life tends to 
elevate man to happiness, and that an evil life 
will kill the development of his spiritual nature, 
and fill his life with misery. The mind thus 
recognizes that good and evil, truth and falsity, 
are both received by the nature of man, and 
that the one condition is to be sought, and the 
other is to be avoided. 

30. In fact, a man may have had the belief 
that he has trusted in God many years, and 
constantly have sought illumination from above, 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



15 



Religious motives. 



Realization of ideals. 



and endeavored to love his neighbor as himself, 
in all his earthly affairs, acknowledging God in 
all his ways, and in humility utterly disclaiming 
self-merit ; or, with religious motives, he may 
have been of such a sensitive disposition that 
prevailing doctrines have been to him a source 
of irritation and irrationality, and he has 
become retired and isolated from the popular 
opinions of his fellow-men in regard to serious 
thought. 

31. When the years of maturity dawn, the 
past has been characterized by affliction and 
suffering in various forms. With some, loved 
ones have been summoned above, leaving the 
sad heart to mourn in grief ; business ventures 
have not succeeded ; property has vanished, 
and apparent friends have proved false. With 
others, a devastation fully as hard to bear, has 
been the crushing of cherished ideals when the 
motives seemed to be pure ; but rest assured, 
O wounded spirit, that not a single ideal has 
been entertained, but which, if the inward 
motives have been unselfish, will yet bloom in 
beautiful fruition, in that world of elevated 
thought, where all things or principles are sub- 
stantial and real to clearer perceptions than we 
can possess in our material degree of thought. 

32. In the spiritual world, men are real men 
in the human form, tangible angels and spirits 



16 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Spiritual surroundings. 



Sphere of desolation. 



without wings, with all their superior faculties 
in acute exercise, living in the use of, and sur- 
rounded by the very ideals which their inmost 
ruling affections have created by their daily 
course of life. 

33. If the effort of the life, in the inward 
motives, has sought the Divine Guidance in 
love and obedience during this life, the sur- 
roundings there will typify the actual state of 
one's life. With those whose lives have 
been principled in the truths of the "Word, the 
affections will be represented by such objects 
as innocent lambs ; the thoughts will be repre- 
sented by beautiful birds, which principles are 
also represented in the Word where beasts and 
birds are mentioned in a good connection. 
Loving friends will commingle their joys, and 
aid each other in imparting the knowledges 
given them. With their minds illuminated by 
the Sun of the Heavens, they will constantly 
seek to love others better than themselves. 
Even the residences, gardens, trees and flowers, 
will in their beauty and usefulness represent 
the nature of the man who has yielded himself 
to be led by the Lord. 

34. On the other hand, the surroundings of 
the man whose continual life has been evil, will 
partake of the nature which he himself, and not 
the Lord, has created ; for he has been led by 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 



17 



Nature of evil men. 



Self-Love. 



the love of self and the world, resisting every 
gentle invitation of Him who says, "Behold, I 
stand at the door and knock," that He may 
enter and lead to heavenly joys. He will be 
attended and infested by crawling and creeping 
things, venemous serpents, carrion birds who 
feed on putrefying flesh, and wild ' beasts of 
prey, and the ground on which he walks will 
be filled with sulphurous pits, and his fields 
will be over-run with weeds, thorns, and covered 
with the desolation of the wilderness. The 
world which the poor sufferer in delirium 
tremens sees about him, with its coiling snakes, 
and frightful, loathsome animals which he 
deliriously fears, is for the time real to him in 
the insanity he has brought upon himself by his 
own free choice and act. 

35. It is not gratifying to the pride of man 
to contemplate the nature of self-love, and yet 
it is necessary to consider it in its true aspect, 
so that in due time in the progress of these 
pages, the Divinity of the Word shall clearly be 
perceived as the "power of God unto salva- 
tion " from sin. Self-love constitutes that state 
of life which is described in the Word as hell, 
for from this evil love all sin originates as from 
a corrupt fountain. A man in this state 
regards nothing but what is in the interest of 
himself, with which he is so absorbed that the 



18 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Practical denial of the Word, 



Hereditary nature of man. 



1 John 2 : 11 
1 John 2 : 22 
1 John 2 : 7 
1 John 3 : 11 
James 1 : 22 
1 John 2 : 4 
1 John 2 : 9 

1 John 2 : 6 
1 John 2 : 10 

1 John 5 : 2 
1 John 3 : 14 
1 John 3 : 23 

Jude : 10 

1 John 3 : 8 
Prov. 21 : 10 
Ps. 100 : 5 
Ps. 115 ; 9 



1 John 3 : 15 
Prov. 24 :JL7 

Ps. 34 ; 21 
Prov. 10 : 16 
Ps. 59 ; 2 
Jer. 7 : 26 
Prov. 11 : 19 
Is. 10 : 13 
Is. 13 : 14 



light from heaven cannot penetrate, for he 
believes only in himself, and inwardly denies 
the truths of the Word, which from the begin- 
ning to the end have reference to the prin- 
ciples of love to the Lord and the neighbor, 
although outwardly he may profess reverence 
for sacred things, and even class himself among 
the chosen people of God. The presence of the 
Lord with man first exists when he inwardly 
loves his neighbor, for the Lord is within this 
love, which is opposed to the love of self. 

36. Man, in his hereditary nature is filled 
with the love of self, in which he does not 
regard the Lord, nor his neighbor, and if this 
evil principle were not restrained by that mercy 
of the Lord which constantly surrounds every 
person, all men would be precipitated by this 
ruling love into that life of sin and misery 
which the word hell fitly expresses, for he who 
hates his brother-man, would, if not restrained 
by the fear of discovery and the loss of reputa- 
tion, take his life, or rejoice at his death. 

37. The nature of every man is such that if 
he should be left to himself and his own gov- 
ernment, unless he were prevented by external 
restraints, he would plunge into all kinds of 
wickedness, and not rest until he had subdued 
all persons in the universe, and not only 
obtained possession of their wealth, but made 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



Lower than the beasts. 



Appearances of Truth. 



them slaves to his will. If he were permitted, 
he would rush headlong into the perpetration 
of every evil to the utmost of his power, thus 
bringing his nature lower than the wild beasts, 
for they kill and devour other animals to ap- 
pease the cravings of hunger, but the evil man 
seeks to destroy the souls of the innocent, to 
gratify the desires of his infernal lusts. Thus 
man, being utterly evil, can never have domin- 
ion over himself without Divine help, for evil 
cannot govern evil and bring it into order, but 
the Lord, by His Omnipotent mercy, restrains 
man from evil by every possible influence, with- 
out violating his freedom. 

38. In this depraved condition of the nature 
of man, the Lord pities those who suffer on 
account of sin, and is never angry with anyone. 
He never leads into temptation, nor punishes 
any person, neither does He curse any sinner, 
but to the man who sins, it seems as if God is 
angry, and that He punishes and destroys, 
because in his perverted state of life, the man 
himself is angry with the Divine Laws which 
he has violated. For this reason, the Word in 
many places is written as God appears to the 
thoughts of evil men, so that by the appearance 
of truth it may reach sinners in their lowest 
condition. Thus through their own fears they 
may be led to believe that there is a God who 



20 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Dread of punishment. 



Forgiveness cf God. 



governs all things in the universe, and in their 
selfish dread of punishment, hoping in some 
way to appease the wrath of their angry God, 
they are led to acknowledge their need of 
Divine assistance. 

39. Every man must bear the punishment of 
his own sins as long as he persists in a sinful 
course of life. By sin, a man closes the door 
of Eternal Life, without which a man is spiritu- 
ally dead, for " the soul that sinneth, it shall die." 
It is not the retribution of sin which man is to 
fear and be saved from, for there is no escape 
from the penalty of any violated law, either 
physical or spiritual, but the very root of sin 
itself, the love of self, is to be dug out, and a 
Divine principle from the Word of God is to 
be implanted in its place by a regenerate life, 
which is salvation from sin. 

40. The Lord always forgives, and never 
casts anyone away from Him. ^ He has come 
into the world by means of the Word, and 
plainly declares, " Let the wicked forsake his 
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and 
let him return unto the Lord, and He will have 
mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will 
abundantly pardon" The man who is ruled by 
the love of self is like a desert filled with stag- 
nant pools, poisonous brambles, and deadly 
vines 1 . As rapidly as the man digs these out 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 21 



Heavenly implanting 



Need of Divine Revelation. 



by striving against his evils, and fills the stag- 
nant pools with living water from the Word 
with the strength given him from above, in the 
same proportion the Lord implants the fruitful 
vines and fragrant flowers, " and the desert shall 
rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom 
abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and 
singing." 

41. As the Kingdom of Heaven is within the 
good man, so the dominion of hell is within the 
evil man, "for out. of the heart proceed evil 
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts^ 
false witness, blasphemies" and when this in- 
ward evil principle is comprehended, a satisfac- 
tory explanation will be perceived concerning 
the great conflicts so frequently mentioned in 
the Psalms and Prophecies between man's foes 
and enemies, as well as in the historical rela- 
tions, for this warfare consists of the spiritual 
combats and temptations which arise from his 
own evils during the progress of regeneration, 
and are not the external enemies which appear 
to be described in the literal sense of the Word, 
for, " a marts foes shall be they of his own house- 
hold." 

42. Hence the need of a coherent Divine 
[Revelation which shall meet the spiritual wants 
of man's nature to the utmost, from the man 
who can only be led through fear and external 



22 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Writing and printing. 



Historical Narration. 



representations of the appearances of truth, to 
him whose cultivated perceptions are led by 
love and interior thought. For this reason, the 
art of writing and printing was provided by the 
Lord so that there might be a communication 
of Divine Truth from Him to the mind of man, 
in such form as would reach every condition of 
depraved life, and the Word has thus been 
given in its literal sense of historical narrative 
and prophetic utterance, for the sake of the 
true spiritual meaning within, which is so co- 
herent in its form that there is not a single 
contradiction. The literal sense from begin- 
ning to end is written, according to appearances, 
by a wonderful analogy or correspondence 
between earthly things and spiritual principles, 
which will be briefly illustrated in succeeding 
pages. 

43. In studying the Word, the mind at first 
is incapable of being instantaneously removed 
from the historical narration to the Internal 
Sense, until by searching its pages diligently, 
with the knowledge that all the statements con- 
tain within them eternal spiritual realities, and 
that the names of all persons, places and things 
are representative of principles within the mind 
of the regenerate man, the reader may be led 
to perceive the spiritual correspondence. The 
historical relation always adheres to and fills 
the mind at first, and it was given to man in 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



23 



Parables. 



Value of the literal sense. 



this form in order that it may be read with 
delight by children, and those who are in the 
simple and innocent state of life which children 
represent, and who receive instruction in Divine 
Truth by means of parables. 

44. The whole Word of God treats only of 
spiritual principles, and has nothing to do with 
physical science or earthly things excepting by 
correspondence, and in no other form or place 
in the universe is the Lord revealed in spiritual 
truths ; for all books which contain illustrations 
of the true doctrine of life, which is to love the 
Lord and the neighbor, are derived from the 
knowledge of the truth within the Word, with- 
out which no one would know of God, neither 
that there is an immortal life after the death of 
the physical body, or corporeal frame, nor could 
we know of His character which is naturally 
represented in the personification of the Lord 
Jesus' Christ. 

45. Without this literal sense of the Word, 
there would be no form, or body, to hold the 
spiritual contents, as the spiritual body of man 
could not exist in this world without a corporeal 
frame of flesh and bones. If the literal sense 
of the Word should be taken away from men, 
and all knowledge of its simple truths should 
be obliterated, there could be no redemption 
from sin. 



24 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Descent of the Lord. 



Reality of spiritual pictures. 



1 John 1 : 1 
Eph. 4 : 9 

Eph. 4 : 10 

Jer. 36 : 17, 
18 

Ps. 40 ; 5 
Heb. 4 : 12 



1 John 3 : 19 
Jer. 21 : 8 
John 20 : 31 

John 6 : 54 

Luke 22 : 19 
Ps. 104 : 15 
J ohn 6 : 56 
Horn. 8 : 29 
Ps. 106 : 10 
Phil. 3 ; 21 

Is. 40 : 5 
Horn. 1 : 17 
42 

Rom. 8 : 10 

1 Cor. 15 : 53 

1 Cor. 15 : 46 
1 Cor. 15 : 47 



46. This Word which is called the Holy 
Bible, is the Lord Himself, who has descended 
into this world into the lowest forms of created 
substances, the dead material matter of paper 
and ink, used to inscribe the words and 
thoughts which contain Divine Truths. These 
Divine Truths taken by the understanding from 
this paper and incorporated into the life of man, 
will save him from his sins, and raise him into 
Eternal life and happiness. 

47. This Word is the "flesh and blood " of the 
Lord, which we are to eat and drink ; this is 
His Body which is given for us ; the " bread 
and wine " upon which our spiritual bodies are 
to be nourished, that we may grow into the 
images of His Form, and likenesses of His Face, 
redeemed by Him from the love of self, through 
the Living Human Principles of the Word. 

48. When the internal principles which exist 
within this Word are revealed to the man who 
is living in obedience to its truths, the literal 
sense in itself alone becomes dead to him, es- 
pecially the appearance of earthly history, just 
as the corporeal frame dies when the spiritual 
body is withdrawn, — because he sees the reality 
of the picture which has been represented in a 
dead form which has life only from the spirit 
which is within it. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



25 



A startling statement. 



The Divine Humanity. 



49. This statement may at first seem start- 
ling to those who have always imagined an 
historical man called Jesus, outside of the 
Word, and have thus far thought of Him as a 
terrestial being, in corporeal flesh and blood, 
walking upon the earth in the land of Palestine, 
and surrounded by a few apostles and disciples, 
when the Internal evidence reveals that only in 
the Word, or in the lives of those who have 
obeyed its truths, has the Lord ever been seen 
by finite eyes, either by angels or men. 

50. But when it is perceived that the Lord 
Jehovah from Eternity is the same Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Alpha and Omega of whom the 
Word in its spiritual sense treats from Genesis 
to Revelation, and that He is the One only 
Infinite Personal God, then the devout mind 
can rest in Him without distraction. 

51. When it is further discovered that He is 
the unchangeable, loving Father, who, in the 
narrative of the Sacred Scriptures, came into 
the world in Divine Truth in the representation 
of the Son of Gocl and the Son of man, and 
that the Humanity which He assumes is the 
living principle of the Word within the lives 
of men who are being regenerated, then the 
rational believer, in reading the literal sense by 
its correspondence with spiritual principles, 
may discover its true Divinitv and exclaim in 



26 



THE FACE OF JESUS > 



Elevation of the mind. 



Where suffering occurs. 



its own literal language " My Lord and my 
God ! " for the Lord is not denied, but is then 
seen in glimpses of His true glory. By means 
of the spiritual meaning of the Word, separated 
from the " traditions of men," the mind is led 
to Him alone, and He is then elevated above 
all earthly science, and is perceived to be the 
" King of kings, and Lord of lords," over the 
heavens and the earths, over angels and men. 

52. Only those earnest and sincere minds 
who love to obey the truths of the Word are 
capable of bearing the interior light which 
shines from the Word, and, if they desire, may 
see a faint outline of its intellectual glory illus- 
trated in the succeeding pages. 

THE RETROSPECT. 

53. As we stand at the threshold of the 
Eternal World and look back upon our past 
lives, we can with gratitude see that all our 
griefs and trials have proved to be blessings in 
the guidance of the Divine Providence. The 
object of their permission has been to impress 
upon our minds the unstability of all external 
material things, and to lead us to reflect upon 
subjects pertaining to our eternal welfare. 

54. All our mental conflicts and sufferings 
occur in the natural mind, and not in the spiri- 
tual mind, for the mind has an external and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF, GOD. 



27 



The material mind. 



The real resurrection, 



internal nature. The natural, or material mind, 
lias its faculties occupied through the senses 
which act in this physical world by means of 
the corporeal frame. Within this frame of 
flesh and bones, the real or spiritual body exists 
which gives life and form to these earthly 
substances. 

55. This corporeal frame, or external cover- 
ing, is composed of the animal, vegetable and 
mineral substances of the earth upon which we 
live, and with which it must be daily supplied 
in the form of food which contains these same 
substances. When this corporeal frame dies, 
and the spiritual body cannot live within it, the 
man then will exist in the Spiritual World, 
which is not far away distant in some other 
material planet, or realm of space and time. 
Then the dead corporeal frame must be buried 
out of sight and its substances be decomposed 
into their earthly elements. 

56. No other bodily resurrection will take 
place, than the entrance of the spiritual body 
into the spiritual world. The death of the 
physical frame and the resurrection of the 
spiritual body will occur alike to all persons, 
both the good and the evil, without any freedom 
of choice ; but the real resurrection is the 
advent of the Lord by the Word into the nature 
of man, kindling his natural mind with regen- 



§8 

Horn. 8 : 7 

§38 

Heb. 10 : 5 
Job 10 : 11 

1 Cor. 15 ; 44> 

Gen. 3 : 19 
Gen. 1 : 29 

2 Kings 3: IT 
1 Tim. 6 ; 8 

James 2 : 2(? 
§45 

Ps. 118 : 17 
Matt. 3 : 2 
Luke 21 : 31 

§39 

Job 34 : 15 
Eccl. 12 : 7 

1 Cor. 15 : 50> 
Hos. 6 : 2 

John 5 : 28 
John 5 : 29 

John 5 : 24 
John 5 : S5» 

Col. 3 : l 



2-8 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Source of spiritual life. 



First instruction. 



John 6 : 40 
John 6 : 44 
John 6 : 45 

John 11 : 23 
Acts 2-1 : 15 

•§ 48 

Acts 17 : 22 
Matt. 22 : 32 
Matt. 22 : 23 

Col. 1 : 5, 6 
1 John 5 : 13 
1 John 5 : 11 
1 John 5 : 12 
1 John 2 : 2S 
Ps, 49 : 20 

1 Cor. 15 : 40 

§ 38 

Eph. 4 : 4 
Ps. 36 : 9 
Amos 4 : 13 
■Gen. 2 : 7 
1 Cor, 13: 11 



Is. 32 : 3 



erate life, by his own desire and through his 
own efforts in conjunction with the strength 
which the Lord gives, for all spiritual life is 
from the Lord alone. 

57. The literal sense of the Word appears to 
teach that the earthly body will rise again at a 
general resurrection of the dead, and men have 
been permitted to believe in this appearance of 
truth, for the reason that if this opinion had not 
been prevalent, mankind would have denied 
that there is an immortal life beyond the grave, 
and it is better to believe such a doctrine, if it 
implies that the man within the corporeal frame 
is to live to eternity, for if men should deny 
that life is eternal, and actually be jDersuaded 
that they would utterly perish with the death 
of the corporeal frame, there would be no in- 
centive to live a holy life, and only natural and 
animal life would then exist on the earth. 

58. The natural mind exists within the 
spiritual body, and the corporeal frame is only 
a means given by which we may first have our 
being and existence. Although all life and 
thought exist from the spiritual world, yet 
when we are children, we receive our first in- 
struction through the senses which operate 
externally by means of the organism of the cor- 
poreal frame, from things in the material uni- 
verse which surround us. We therefore see, 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



29 



Perception. 



Death of natural ideas. 



hear, feel, taste and smell, or have perception 
of the qualities of objects outside of the cor- 
poreal frame, by means of the senses which are 
within. 

59. These senses belong to the natural or 
external mind of the spiritual body, and by 
means of instruction in the wisdom of this 
world in all branches of science known to the 
natural mind, a man may be so highly educated 
in earthly knowledge, as to stand upon the 
pinnacle of fame, on account of his attainments 
in learning, and yet his spiritual and internal 
mind may not be opened in the least degree. 

60. Thus a man is in a natural state or con- 
dition of thought, and he does not turn his 
mind toward spiritual principles until he has 
been brought down so low in his own estima- 
tion, that he feels utterly devastated of every- 
thing which he called and believed to be his 
own, — until he cries out in the anguish of his 
spirit for the Divine Light to illumine his path. 
It is not unusual for the preparation for a re- 
generate life to be extended over a period of 
many years, even after a man has publicly pro- 
fessed his belief in the prevailing religious 
doctrines of the people among whom his lot has 
been cast. 

61. When natural ideas and appearances of 
truth begin to perish, then arise conflicts and 



so 



THE FACE OF JESUS 



The Divine guidance. 



Helplessness of man. 



Matt. 8 : 26 
2 Pet. 2 : 9 
Prov. 3 : 7 
Prov. 16 : 9 
Prov. 1 : 31 
Ps. 1 : 6 
•Is. 42 : 16 
Ps. 61 : 2 
1 Cor. 10 : 13 
Prov. 14 : 12 
1 Cor. 8 : 2 
Job 23 : 10 



Ps. 55 : 4 
Ps. 66 : 10 

1 Pet. 4 : 19 
Rom. 8 : 18 

2 Cor. 4 : 17 
Ezek. 33 : 13 
1 Tim. 6 : 7 

John 1 : 3 
Deut. 28 : 66 

Ps. 116 : 3 

Ps. 115 : 17 
Deut. 4 : 22 



temptations, and the consequent mental suffer- 
ing. In our natural self-hooci or individuality, 
we desire all events in our lives to succeed as 
we have planned, and we also desire that other 
people shall do our bidding ; but there is an 
Omniscient Loving Man who gently seeks to 
lead our thoughts higher than natural things, 
as rapidly as we are able to bear the discipline, 
although we often imagine that we know best 
what is for our good, for we call those things 
good which favor our natural desires, and it 
is characteristic for us to recognize more 
readily the hand of Providence when we appear 
to be favored, than when events seem adverse. 

62. In our disappointments we experience 
depression, and ultimately are filled with dis- 
couragement. We do not perceive the great 
object of the Divine Purpose, although we 
must suffer in order that it shall be attained ; 
but when the talents which we thought our 
own seem to fail us, then we are sometimes 
led to realize that we cannot even think, by 
our own volition, any more than we can cause 
our own life-blood to flow through our veins 
and arteries. 

63. In this helpless condition a man feeis as 
though he Avere dead, and in reality he is dead, 
for he has no life which originates from himself, 
and into this experience of the death of natural 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



31 



The Day of Judgment. 



Is there no light ? 



things, a man must enter who is about to be 
regenerated, for it is truly the Day of his Last 
Judgment, the consummation of the reign of 
natural principles. 

64. Before the resurrection of spiritual life 
can take the place of the natural, or before the 
advent of the Lord can enter the world of 
man's internal mind, all external things in 
themselves alone must die to the man, and in 
this state of preparation it seems as though he 
were left by himself alone in the desolation of 
darkness, with no avenue of help, and in his 
despair he calls upon his God to lead him to 
the True Light, which shall guide his uncertain 
steps. 

65. Through all these years, from early child- 
hood, his memory may have been stored with 
the words of the Holy Scriptures, but after 
many years, in the order of his education in the 
sciences of the natural world, he meets with 
statements in the Word which seem to conflict 
with his acquired knowledge, and he begins to 
doubt concerning the Divine origin of the Word, 
and then the darkness becomes thicker ; for to 
what other volume can he look for guidance 
toward a heavenly life ? What other book can 
lead him to see the "Light which lightens every 
man who cometh into the world?" 



Pom, 8 : 13 

Matt. 24 : 29 
1 Thess. 5 ; 2 



Ps. 22 : 15 

2 Cor. 1 : 9 

Jer. 17 : 5 
Ps. 107 : 8 
Ps. 107 : 39 
Lam. 3 : 47 
Luke 21 : 26 
Ps. 107 : 19 
Ps. 65 : 22 
Ps. 73 ; 24 

2 Tim. 3 ; 15 



Is. 30 : 2 
Is. 30 : 3 
Jer. 47 : 2 
1 Cor. 14 : < 
.Is. 5 : 24 
Ps. 82 : 5 
Is. 10 : 3 
Ps. 48 : 14 
Ps. 73 : 25 
John 1 : 9 



32 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The true world. 



A menta! sepulchre, 



1 John 5 : 4 
1 John 2 : 15 
1 J ohn 2 : 16 



Heb. 4 : 1 
Heb. 3 : 12 



Heb. 4 : 2 
Ps. 88 : 11 
Ps. S8 r 3 
Is. 28 : 16 

John 11 : 25, 
26 



Is. 24 : 1 
Is. 24 : 2 
Jer. 14 : 18 
Lam. 2 ; 20 
Jer. 8 : 1 
1 Tim. 4 : 16 
Titus 1 : 11 
Eph. 4 : 14 
James 1 : 12 
Col. 4 : 17 
Matt. 23 : 5 



66. What world is this desolate man about 
to enter ? It is not the natural world in which 
he has been groping, which has gradually been 
perishing to him and is now dead, for no light 
for the immortal spirit can come from that 
world which has no spiritual life. 

67. In this state of doubt, even the letter of 
the Word which is illustrated by earthly com- 
parisons, has become dead to him, because he 
perceives no life within it. But in the lowest 
vale of this mental cemetery, is a solid pillar of 
polished marble, bearing in plain, raised letters, 
the familiar words, " I dm the resurrection and 
the Life : he that believeth in Me, though he were 
dead* yet shall he live, and tvhosoever liveth and 
believeth in Me, shall never die" 

THE RELIGIOUS TEACHER. 

68. Down within this mental sepulchre, many 
a professional religious teacher has stood and 
gazed upon the remains of his natural educa- 
tion, even after many years of proclaiming doc- 
trines from the Word. Perhaps he has turned 
from his vocation, or wandered for a while in 
some new doctrine for relief, only to be brought 
into greater despair. Or perhaps in his hour 
of temptation, the love of fame or honor has 
overcome him, and he has redoubled his efforts 
in the old routine of labor and doctrine, and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



33 



Adulation. 



Conflicting statements 



become even more interested in external things 
than before, so that his worshippers have in- 
creased in numbers, and he has become a reci- 
pient of that homage from men and women, 
which is so flattering to vanity in every pro- 
fession. 

69. Or perhaps he may feel unfitted for any 
other profession, and for the sake of a living, 
continue to preach traditional doctrines without 
entering into farther investigation, or else seek 
to gratify his natural delight of ruling over the 
minds of other men, which is a love of dominion 
arising from the love of self. 

70. It is the privilege of a religious teacher 
to possess more knowledge of the literal sense 
of the Word than others, and in his studies to 
confirm the doctrines of his particular ecclesias- 
tical system, he has met with many connections 
in comparing one portion of the literal sense 
with another, and it is with much effort and 
evasion that he has endeavored to make one 
passage harmonize with another. 

71. He finds in one place the statement, 
" Thou canst not see my face : for there shall no 
man see me and live ; " and yet in the same 
chapter he reads that " The Lord spake unto 
Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his 
friend ; " also, " thou Lord art seen face to 



c 



34 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Inconsistent attributes 



Willingness to be led. 



face;" when also it is declared in the New 
Testament, " Ye have neither heard his voice at 
any time, nor seen his shape. " No man hath 
seen God at any time." 

72. He reads that God creates evil, and that 
He brings evil upon men ; that He casts down 
into hell ; that He hardens the heart ; that He 
sends curses ; that He commands His people 
to kill the man who serves other gods ; that He 
will hide His eyes from those who spread out 
their hands ; that He will not hear when many 
prayers are made ; that He repents ; that He 
cometh with fierce anger ; that He destroys 
sinners ; that in the prophecies He utters words 
of wrath and vengeance toward His own chosen 
people ; and he finds many other sayings which 
he cannot reconcile as consistent with the attri- 
butes of Divine Love and Wisdom which shine 
forth in the Gospels, and therefore he does not 
say much concerning the Old Testament record. 
Thus he feels that He is at the mercy of 
scoffers, and begins to doubt the Divine author- 
ity of the Word ; but he does not outwardly 
express his thoughts, and continues his routine 
of religious teaching as before. 

73. But should he inwardly ask for more 
Divine Light to enter his mind, with willingness 
to be led, with a desire to lead others as the 
letter of the Word should become more illumi- 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD, 



35 



God has no perverse attributes. 



Belief in the Word. 



nated, he would in due time be permitted to 
see clearly that all these perverse expressions 
are intended to convey to the depraved natural 
mind, the appearance of truth, as the Lord 
seems to the man who is deeply engulfed in the 
love of self; but from the Spiritual Sense, the 
Word teaches that the Lord Himself is pure, 
unchangeable Love from Eternity to Eternity, 
whose desire is that every man shall turn from 
his evil ways and permit Him to lead all His 
creatures into angelic life. Those who obey 
the truths of the Word in loving the Lord and 
their neighbor, readily perceive ^that He has 
none of the perverse attributes which belong 
only to evil men. Evil men, in their freedom 
will not go to the Lord, or the Word, because 
they love evil rather than good. 

74. Any person who reads the Word for the 
purpose of confirming false principles by the 
appearances of truth according to which the 
Word is written, may do so in many places ; 
but it is one thing to confirm false principles 
by passages from the Word, and another thing 
to believe simply what is spoken in its pages. 
The man who in an innocent state of mind, 
thinks that it is truth because he is instructed 
that the Lord spoke it by the mouth of His 
holy prophets, when he is led to understand its 
true meaning by what is said in the spiritual 



36 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Perception of truth. 



The charm of the serpent. 



interpretation of the Word, readily perceives 
the Divine Truth and is filled with joy. Thus 
the Lord permits a man in simplicity at first to 
believe that He is angry, punishes and repents, 
so that he may be restrained from evil and led 
to do good. 

75. The question at once reasonably arises, 
that if the internal meaning of the Word is the 
real interpretation, why is it permitted that 
holy spiritual principles which are divine and 
true, should be obscured by such gross mis- 
representations ? Is it consistent with the 
character of a just God to say one thing and 
mean another ? Why not declare the pure 
simple truth at once, and avoid all the conflic- 
tion and misinterpretation which has always 
existed concerning the Word of God ? 

76. These are honest inquiries, and are not 
to be set aside, although the answer to them 
cannot at once be made clear to the apprehen- 
sion. If men were in their true order of spiri- 
tual life as they were in the most ancient times 
before the " serpent," or the love of self, had 
drawn the whole race of man from sj)iritual 
into natural life, there would have been no 
need that the Word should have been written 
according to the appearance of truth as it 
seems to the natural mind., 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



37 



Sensual ideas. 



The Lord leads all who desire. 



77. It was thus written on account of the 
nature and condition of man's life, which 
through continuous ages has become so im- 
mersed in the corporeal and sensual ideas be- 
longing to a life, or succession of lives, filled 
with the love of self, that he can only be led 
upward to spiritual life by such means as his 
mind can grasp, which must meet him in what- 
ever condition of life and thought he may be 
existing. 

78. By nature, "men love darkness rather 
than light" and must blindly feel their way up- 
ward from the dark subterranean caverns, by 
forms which to them are real and tangible to 
the external sense of touch, which enable them 
to be guided into more acute senses of the per- 
ception of truth. These forms have within 
them, and even upon the face, qualities which 
will reveal their beauty and symmetry to the 
sense of sight in all their proportions as they 
approach the illuminating influence of the 
Internal Sense of the Word, and all will be led 
to the Light, who in their state of darkest 
obscurity, in humble obedience live in love to 
others from a child-like trust in Him who is 
the Sun of Heaven. 

79. The Lord will not leave the man who is 
willing and obedient, to grope in darkness, if 



38 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The experienced physician. 



Danger of fatalism. 



Ps. 119 : 18 
Rev. 22 : 7 



Ps. 139 : 14 
Ps. 145 : 9 
Ps. 19 : 1 
Job 32 : 8 

Jer. 30 : 17 
Matt. 8 : 7 
Ex. 23 : 25 

3 John 11 
1 Pet. 3 : 15 
1 Cor. 10 : 12 
§61 

Luke 1 : 1 
Is. 44 : 7 
Ps. 24 : 1 

Ps. 119 : 89 
Is. 37 : 16 
Zjch. 12 : 1 
Dan. 2 : 28 
Ezek. 43 : 2 
Ezek. 12:25 
Ezek. 12 : 13 



he desires to open his eyes to the Light that 
shines from the obscure forms within the Word. 

THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION. 

80. The physician who studies the intricate 
anatomy of the corporeal frame, observes how 
orderly every part does its own sphere of work,, 
independent of the volition of the man who 
lives within it. He spends his life and thought 
in his arduous profession in the endeavor to 
bring into order those disarrangements of the 
physical system which originate from evil in- 
fluences for which he cannot account. 

81. He hears religious doctrines proclaimed 
which he is told that he must believe without 
questioning. They seem to be confirmed from 
the Word, but to his clear perception they do 
not appear to be in harmony with the laws of 
order, which he recognizes must prevail in 
everything that is natural and divine, without 
which order, even the heavens and the material 
universe would not cohere ; but he is uncon- 
scious that the Word treats of higher principles 
than disorderly natural births, and ignominious 
earthly history, and he is tempted to confirm 
himself in fatalistic principles, and think no 
farther. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



39 



The laws of order. 



The mother Mar 



82. It is right for him to affirm that God 
never violates the laws of order, although man 
in his fallen nature constantly disobeys them. 
In the temptation to discard the Word of God, 
the physician is not yet aware that the Internal 
Sense teaches that all births which are there 
recorded have only reference to spiritual births, 
and that the statement embodied in the pre- 
vailing doctrine of the Miraculous Conception 
does not refer to the order of the birth of a 
physical or material child, excepting for spiri- 
tual illustration, for no natural- birth ever 
occurred upon this earth excepting through the 
orderly means of a natural father and mother. 
This account of apparent earthly history is true 
spiritually, but it refers entirely to the spiritual 
birth of the Lord within the interior mind of 
the man who is to be regenerated. 

83. Farther along in these pages it will be 
illustrated from the Word that the state of life 
which precedes the advent of the Lord is typi- 
fied by the mother Mary, who represents that 
virgin state of innocence at which the man has 
arrived in his reformation from evil and falsity, 
in which he is actuated by affection or desire 
for truth from the Word, for a man must be 
reformed or walk in the way which leads to 
holiness, before the work of regeneration can 
proceed. The knowledges of the simple living 



Col. 4 : 6 
Is. 44 : 8 
Matt. 22 : 16 
Rom. 8 : 5 
1 Pet. 4 : 12 

Luke 20 : 21 
Hag. 2 : 7 
1 Tim. 1 : 4 
Luke 1 : 31 

1 John 5 : 1 

2 Pet. 3 : 2 
Luke 17 : 25 
Matt. 23 : 36 
John 5 : If 
John 3 : 5 

1 John 4 : 7 
1 John 4 : 16 
1 John 2 : 29 

James 1 : 5 
Prov. 8 : 17 
Mai. 3 : 1 
Luke 1 : 43 
John 14 : 23 

Matt. 4 : 17 
Gal. 5 : 6 
Prov. 10 : 24 
Rom. 7 : 6 
lThess.3:13 



40 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Simple truths. 



The appearance and the reality, 



truths of the Word precede the "beginning" 
which God creates, and the "Spirit of God 
moving upon the face of the waters" or upon 
these truths in the external memory is signified 
by " the power of the Highest shall overshadow 
thee," or the Father quickening them with life. 
Thus the " holy thing which is born of thee" is 
named " Emmanuel" " God with us" 

84. Yet if a man obeys the simple truths of 
the Word as they shine from the literal sense, 
and everywhere teach him to love the Lord and 
his neighbor, it will not be injurious for him to 
believe in the appearance of this spiritual fact 
which relates to the advent of the Lord into 
the regenerate life of men, because he may thus 
perceive a Divine Authority for the truths 
given by the Lord, as from a physical Person, 
and he will be clearly enlightened in the world 
to come, if not in this world, unless he is self- 
persuaded from pre-conceivecl opinions which 
are fostered by the love of self. 

SERIOUS QUESTIONS. 

85. In the minds of candid readers a very 
important question arises, viz. : If the religious 
doctrines of the Christian world which are 
founded upon the appearance in the Word of 
the physical Incarnation of the Son of God in 
the corporeal flesh, as a visible Person, — should 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



41 



A Vital consideration. 



Mental food. 



be utterly swept away as an event of earthly 
history, would not the tendency be for thinking 
minds to discard the entire Word of God, and 
look upon it as a book of " cunningly devised 
fables f " 

86. This is a serious inquiry, and will lead 
us to consider whether the Divinity of the 
Word depends upon external proof, or whether 
it contains within its thoughts and utterances, 
an Internal Evidence which cannot be dissi- 
pated by sophistry, or arguments from self- 
intelligent reasonings. 

87. If the external or literal sense of the 
Holy Scriptures should be taken away, will 
mankind have any Eevelation in which the 
soul can rest as the Word of God, or in any 
other way be saved from sin ? "If the founda- 
tions be destroyed, tvhat can the righteous do ? " 

88. This is certainly a momentous question ; 
for if the literal form of the words of the Sacred 
Scriptures should perish, man could not be 
regenerated and saved from his sins ; neither 
could heaven, or the principles of heavenly life, 
enter "the world of his mind, for these principles 
as recorded in the Word must fill his inner life 
and be externally manifested in love to the 
neighbor. 

89. The "flesh and blood" of the mind, or 
the spiritual body, must be fed with spiritual 



42 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Earthly food. 



The new birth. 



Ps. 78 : 25 
Deut. 8 : 16 
Micah 5 : 4 
Gen. 9: 3 
Ps. 65 : 9 
John 6 : 27 
Matt. 6 : 25 
Prov. 30 : 8 
Lev. 25 : 19 

Is. 55 : 1 
Ps. 22 : 26 
Luke 12 : 22 
1 Cor. 9 : 4 
Dan. 1 : 5 
Is. 66 : 1 



Ps. 89 : 11 
Ps. 83 : 18 



1 Thess. 5 : 23 
Col. 1 : 10 

Josh. 24 : 15 
Is. 66 : 9 
John 3 : 7 
1 John 5 : 18 



substances, and this spiritual food is found 
only in the Word of God. The food which the 
corporeal frame derives from 'the three king- 
doms of the natural world, the animal, vege- 
table and mineral substances which must daily 
be eaten to supply its life, will not nourish the 
spiritual body. And yet the soul of man could 
not exist on earth if the corporeal frame were 
not nourished with physical substances of its 
kindred nature. 

90. The actual life of the physical frame is 
derived from the spirit, nevertheless the earthly 
body must be fed and sustained from earthly 
substances in order that man may live within 
it, for Heaven depends upon earth as a basis, 
"Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, 
and the earth is my footstool" 

91. If there were no earths in the universe, 
the lif 3 of man could have no beginning, for 
there would be no place for his corporeal frame 
to be created and continue in existence. The 
soul is created within and gives form to this 
corporeal frame, and as the physical structure 
is developed in strength and size, the man 
within increases in knowledge preparatory to 
receiving spiritual life, if he will so choose to 
accept and attain it. This spiritual life is typi- 
fied in the Word, at its beginning under the 
figure of a new birth, or the advent of the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



The Holy Child. 



The dead Literal Sense. 



Lord, which is analogous in its order to the 
physical birth of man, the Lord J ehovah being 
the Father of the Holy Child. 

92. The analogies or correspondences of the 
Word in the literal sense, are taken from 
earthly things, and at first the mind only per- 
ceives the sign or representation which is used 
in the historical form of the Sacred Writings. 
The whole Word, not only the books of the 
Old Testament, but the four Gospels and the 
book of Eevelation, is thus written according to 
natural appearances, and the names of persons, 
places and things, are not to be considered in 
themselves, for they represent spiritual prin- 
ciples in man, a statement which, with many 
others of a similar purport, will often be reiter- 
ated in the succeeding pages. 

THE LITERAL SENSE OF THE WORD. 

93. Earthly things in themselves are dead, 
The food which we eat is dead. The meat con- 
tains flesh and blood which are dead, and the 
bread contains dead vegetable and mineral 
matter ; but the life within the corporeal frame 
feeds upon these dead physical substances and 
is sustained, while without the life within, even 
the corporeal frame itself is dead. 

94. The Literal Sense of the Word in itself John 3 • 31 
is dead, for it is made from the dead material 1 Jer.31: 4a 



44 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Bread and water. 



Corporeal frame of man. 



I Cor. 15 : 37 

<5al. 5 : 24 

John 4 : 13 
John 2 : 21 

Matt. 5 : 6 

Micah 7 : 14 

Job 23 : 12 

Ps. 146 : 7 

Uohn 2 : 23 
Rev. 22 : 19 
John 3 : 36 
John 1 : 32 
Ps. 78 ; 20 
§89 

Matt. 16 : 11 
John 6 : 31 
Ps. 78 : 72 

John 6: 35 
Mark 12 : 13 

Ps. 8 : 4 

Job 33 : 12 
§54 

Job 14 : 10 
Is. 38 : 11 
Acts 23 : 8 
Gal. 2 : 20 
John i4 : 19 



representatives of earthly things, which in them- 
selves are dead. But when they are taken into 
the mind, or spiritual body, to appease the 
" hunger for righteousness," they sustain it with 
nourishment, for they form that flesh and blood, 
or that bread and water which is to be vivified 
with Life from the Lord. 

95. The Literal Sense of the Word must not 
be denied, rejected, or crucified, for it is the 
Lord Himself in the world, who has thus 
descended from Heaven into substances which 
are to serve for spiritual food. This food is 
dead in itself, because it is an appearance of 
truth, containing no living principle for man 
until it is brought forth into life. If this spiri- 
tual food of the literal sense should be taken 
away, man would spiritually die, and the 
Advent of the Lord in man could not take 
place, neither could the Infant Jesus be sus- 
tained in the beginning of man's spiritual life. 

96. Man, in his corporeal frame, appears to 
be a living creature in himself, and this is all 
that we see of him with our external eyes. 
When the spiritual body is withdrawn, we see 
him here no more, and there has not been a 
created man or angel in existence without first 
living within a corporeal frame, which is not 
the man himself, but is simply the covering or 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



45 



A disfigured form. 



Divinity within this form. 



garment in which he first appears upon the 
stage of life. 

97. This corporeal frame may appear dis- 
figured and without symmetry, on account of 
the hereditary tendency to evil which has 
descended from depraved ancestors. It may 
be "despised and rejected of men; a man of 
sorrows and acquainted with grief : and we hid 
as it were our faces from him : he was despised, 
and we esteemed him not," and yet within this 
visage and form so marred, there may be a 
beautiful, tender and loving man, who has 
struggled against his inevitable natural sur- 
roundings, into whose inner life the Lord has 
entered to create him an angel of Heaven. 

98. The Word has been given to men as 
meat and drink to nourish the flesh and blood 
of the spiritual body. In its external appear- 
ance without any interior sense it is dead, but 
when it is applied to the life, and man imbibes 
and obeys its literal utterances, recognizing an 
internal divine principle clothed by disfigured 
words which often do not seem to cohere in 
unity, there is revealed to the spiritual percep- 
tion that within these dead forms of expression 
there is Eternal Truth in which alone is to be 
found its Inspiration and Divinity. " For that 
which had not been told them shall they see ; and 



46 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Spiritual flesh. 



Eating flesh. 



that 'which they had not heard shall they 
consider." 

FLESH AND BLOOD. 

j9. When it is understood what the spiritual 
meaning of flesh conveys to the mind, then it 
may be perceived how the "Word was made 
flesh and dwelt among us." It may therefore 
be useful to consider briefly the general mean- 
ing of this word as it is found in the Literal 
Sense of the Word, bearing in mind that every 
expression which there describes anything 
which is in the natural world, represents some 
spiritual principle of the mind, which is a cor- 
responding receptacle of the principles of the 
Word. All spiritual principles begin with the 
Lord, or the Word, and descend through dif- 
ferent degrees until they form and govern the 
mind of the man who obeys them. 

100. The words u flesh and blood" are often 
used in the Word, and every thoughtful person 
knows without argument that they do not mean 
to convey the literal expression. When the 
Word represents the Lord Jesus as saying that 
we must " eat His flesh, and drink His Mood" 
even the most external and material mind might 
reasonably ask, " How can this man give us his 
flesh to eat ? " 

101. In its highest meaning, " flesh " signifies 
the Divine Love of the Lord which proceeds 



THE' NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



47 



Living flesh. 



The. Word made flesh. 



from Him through the Heavens to the world 
of the mind of man. This Divine Proceeding 
is the " Spirit that quickeneth," which is with- 
in " the words that I speak unto you," for " they 
are spirit and they are life" All persons who 
apply the truths of the Word to their interior 
motives, find within them an inward principle 
of life which is above the nature of the earthly 
life. The Divine Love is thus proclaimed by 
the Word, " For God so loved the ivorld, that 
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should, not perish, but have 
everlasting life!' This Son of God is the 
Divine Life of the Word within the man who 
believes and obeys its precepts. " I am the 
living bread which cometh down from heaven: 
if any man eat this bread, he shall live for ever. 
The bread which I tvill give is my flesh, ivhich I 
will give for the life of the world" 

102. In order to sustain spiritual life, the 
Word must be partaken of as food, and this 
food is flie flesh which is given " for the life of 
the world." The Life which is within this 
flesh is Eternal Life, or the Life of the Lord in 
the inmost principle of the mind of a regenera- 
ting man, which Life is derived from the Word, 
the " bread which cometh down from heaven." 

103. The word " flesh " as applied to man, 
has two meanings, one in reference to good, 



48 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



The heart of flesh. 



The renewed heart. 



and the other to evil. Before the beginning of 
regenerate life, it refers to the self-hood of 
man's nature, to his ruling motive, or the 
" heart," which is hereditarily perverse and 
opposed to the living truths of the Word, and 
is that state of life in which he thinks only of 
himself and those who belong to him. The 
good or evil principle is indicated in the Word 
by the subject which the scriptural passage is 
treating of, as for example, " Cursed be the man 
that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, 
and whose heart departelh from the Lord" 
where it is plainly indicated that the man 
curses himself, or closes the entrance to spiri- 
tual life, who trusts in his own natural evil 
principle, for " The heart is deceitful above all 
things, and desperately ivicked : who can know 
it 1 " and also " The flesh profiteth nothing" and 
in many other places. 

104. The good principle represented by 
flesh in relation to man, when he has permitted 
the Lord to assume control of his nature, by 
active conjunction with the truths of the Word, 
is thus illustrated, "Behold, I ivill cause breath 
to enter you, and ye shall live : and I will lay 
sineivs upon you, and will bring up flesh upon 
you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in 
you, and ye shall live : and ye shall know that 
I am the Lord" 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



49 



Interior principles. 



Shedding blood. 



105. If the Word is believed to be of Divine 
authority, the thoughtful reader will perceive 
that the word " flesh" must have reference to 
inward spiritual principles, especially in such 
passages as the following, " Come and gather 
yourselves together unto the supper of the great 
God : that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the 
flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, 
and the flesh of horses, and of those that sit on 
them, and the flesh of all men, both free and 
bond, both small and great" 

106. The word Blood in its highest sense 
when found in the Word signifies the Divine 
Wisdom of the Lord as it proceeds from Him 
to the intellectual faculty of the man who 
receives it as it is clothed and given expression 
in the truths of the Word. The correspon- 
dence of the word " blood " is derived from the 
red fluid which circulates through the arteries 
and veins of the corporeal frame in which 
physical life resides, u for the life of the flesh is 
in the blood" 

107. The Divine Life of the Lord courses 
through the arteries and veins of the historical 
narratives and prophetic utterances of the 
Word, and enters the affections and thoughts 
of the man who drinks this blood by learning 
and obeying its Divine Truths. " This is my 
blood of the new testament, which is shed for 

D 



50 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Redeeming blood. 



Bread and wine. 



many" which redeems and cleanses from sin, 
for it is the heavenly principle from the Divine 
Love and Wisdom, working within the blood 
of the spiritual body of the regenerating man, 
who drinks it from that cup which runneth 
over with Divine Truth. He who drinks this 
blood by learning and obeying the simple 
truths of the Word, will bear good- will to all 
people from an inward desire for their spiri- 
tual happiness. 

108. All things in the Word relate to good 
or evil and truth or falsity, because man 
during his earthly life is in an intermediate 
state between good and evil influences. Thus 
" blood," before regenerate life begins, signifies 
the intellectual principle of the natural mind 
which perverts and falsifies the Divine Truth 
in the Word, and turns it so that it agrees with 
the love of self, or with doctrines which favor 
selfish principles. These are they of whom it 
is said, " The mountains shall be melted with 
their blood : and their land shall be soaked with 
blood" But concerning those whose spiritual 
blood is quickened by obedience to the truths 
of the Word, it is said, "He shall redeem their 
soul from deceit and violence : and precious shall 
their blood be in His sight." 

109. Thus it may be understood that " flesh 
and blood/' or " bread and wine," represent the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



51 



Washing in blood. 



The death on the cross. 



spiritual meat and drink which is to be eaten 
and drunken from the Word. 

110. In the Spiritual Sense of the Word, 
** blood " does not refer to the physical shedding 
of blood, nor the sacrificing of the life of a cor- 
poreal Person to propitiate the wrath of 
another Person, for the mind should rest in 
One Person only, in whom are the Three Prin- 
ciples represented in the Word, in man, and in 
nature. A true circle can have but one center. 

111. There are many persons of tender and 
trusting natures, who through the fear that 
they shall " crucify the Son of God afresh, and 
put him to an open shame," feel constrained to 
abide in doctrines derived from a literal inter- 
pretation of many passages of the Word. If 
their lives are inwardly pure, the Lord will 
reveal how He washes us "from our sins in 
His Own Blood." 

112. The death of the Son of Man upon the 
cross signifies the violence done to the simple 
living truths of the Word, on which hang " all 
the law and the prophets" when traditional 
teachings from the literal sense are confirmed in 
such a manner as to obscure those plain truths 
of life, on which rest the civil, moral and spiri- 
tual laws of the universe, and which in some 
form have been known among all nations. 



52 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Why flesh and blood are used, 



Anti-christ 



113. The reason why it was written "flesh 
and b*ood," instead of saying the Divine Love 
and Wisdom of the Lord, or the spiritual prin- 
ciples of good and truth derived from Him, is 
because the Literal Sense of the Word was 
named from things on earth which correspond 
to spiritual principles in heaven, so that there 
may be a conjunction of the angel principles 
which constitute the Spiritual Sense, with men 
who read the Word in its Literal Sense. Those 
on earth who apply its truth to their lives, 
gather true spiritual food f-om the interior or 
angelic sense, for they are those blessed ones 
of whom it is said, " Hereafter ye shall see 
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending 
and descending vpon the Son of man." The 
" Son of Man" is the Living Truth of the Literal 
Sense of the Word. 

114. The Spiritual Sense of the Word reveals 
that the true doctrine which asserts that " God 
was manifest in the flesh " may be rationally 
received by the enlightened mind, and that 
"every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and 
this is that spirit of anti christ, whereof ye have 
heard that it should come; and even now already 
is it in the world. For many deceivers are 
entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



53 



Salvation by the Commandments. 



The Will of God. 



and an antichrist. He that biddeth him God 
speed is partaker of his evil deeds." 

115. In its effect upon the life of the man 
who is in the effort to obey the precepts of the 
Word, and who perceives an interior Divine 
Principle within the external expression, it is 
not essential that he should believe in a cor- 
poreal Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
outside of the regenerate man in whom He 
lives. He saves a man from his sins by his 
life according to his obedience to the Com- 
mandments of the Word, and not by means of 
an irrational faith in mysteries which when 
literally interpreted are not according to the 
laws of Divine Order. 

116. We should think spiritually concerning 
the " flesh and blood" of the Lord, or the 
Word, which is the Body he assumes in the 
world, and not reason materially upon this 
theme. In order to love the Lord even as we 
would love a fellow-being, we are not to adore 
a physical image of His Person, but we should 
strive to do those things which He reveals in 
the Word, which is the only visible expression 
of His Face and Form. The Internal Sense of 
the Word cannot be discovered by the natural 
mind, and is only revealed by the Lord to those 
who love to do His Will as it is revealed in the 
Word. All who desire a knowledge of the in- 



54 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Lord Jehovah. 



The suffering Son of Man. 



ternal proof of Divine Inspiration, may find it 
within the Revelation God has given. 

THE SON OF MAN. 

117. In the revealing of the Internal Sense 
of the Word, the Divine Man of the Gospels is- 
not taken away and denied, for it is shown 
unto the true believer that He is the Lord 
Jehovah. The u Son of Man" of the Literal 
Sense is lifted up from the historical record of 
an humble Jewish peasant, and it is perceived 
that He is the Living Divine Truth which 
shines from the Literal Sense. Upon carefully 
searching the Four Gospels it will be found 
that the expression " Son of Man" represents 
one spiritual principle, while the "Son of God 1 * 
is used to express another. 

118. It is the " Son of Man " who is " de- 
livered to the chief priests " ; who is " con- 
demned," " mocked," " scourged," and " cruci- 
fied." It is the "Son of Man" who is 
" tempted ; " who is delivered into the hands 
of sinful men ; " who wears the " crown of 
thorns ; " who is " spitefully entreated and 
spitted on ; " who is " killed, and is raised again 
on the third day," and not the " Son of God." 

119. It is the Divine Truth of the Literal 
Sense of the "Word which has thus suffered and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



55 



Dead external worship. 



Humbly walking with God. 



been obscured by dead rites and ceremonies of 
external worship without internal spiritual life ; 
with traditional teachings filled with condemn- 
atory dogmas. ; with preachings which abrogate 
the simple Commandments, and supplant them 
with doctrines which prevent men from seeing 
the plain truth of loving the Lord and the 
neighbor, and which hold inquiring minds 
under the yoke of the fear of wrath, or the 
condemnation of the elders. " Well hath Esaias 
prophesied of you as it is written. This people 
honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is 
far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship 
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of 
men ; for, laying aside the commandment of 
God, ye hold the tradition of men' 1 "And he 
said unto them, Full well ye reject the command- 
ment of God, that ye may keep your oivn tra- 
dition." 

120. The contrast between the burdensome 
commandments of men and the simple truth of 
the Word, is thus plainly illustrated, " He hath 
shoived thee, 0 man, ivhat is good; and what 
doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, 
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy 
God f " From the face of the plain truths of 
the Word, such as the Commandments of Life, 
there shines an Interior Light for the mind 
who obeys them. The Divine Law of Love to 



56 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



The fundamental precept. 



The personification of Divine Truth. 



the Neighbor is clearly revealed in the "Word 
of the Old Testament, " Thou shalt not avenge, 
nor bear any grudge against the children of thy 
people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
self: I am the Lord." 

121. In the spiritual history of mankind, 
these plain Living Truths had become so ob- 
scured by the quality of external worship repre- 
sented by the Jewish rites and ceremonials, 
and which illustrate the same principles exist- 
ing in the nature of man at the present day, 
that when the spiritual principles of the Com- 
mandments are more clearly revealed by be- 
coming personified to the external mind in the 
life of, and utterances from the appearance of 
the Lord as a man, — in the Literal Sense of 
the Evangelists, — they are rejected and set 
aside for more elaborate and irrational doc- 
trines. But when the mind is abstracted from 
physical appearances, and the Lord is acknow- 
ledged within these truths, it will be perceived 
that the Lord, or the Divine Truth dwells 
within regenerating men, as recipients of His 
Life from the Word. The personification of 
Divine Wisdom is very clearly presented to the 
external mind in the eighth chapter of the 
Book of Proverbs. • 

122. The " Son of Man " is to be " lifted up 
from the earth " as the mind recedes inwardly, 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



57 



The Son of Man lifted up. 



The Sacred Story. 



or is elevated from the earthly appearance of 
the Literal Sense of the Word, and He will 
thus " draw all unto him " who look for Him 
within the Word. " How say est thou, The Son 
of man must be lifted up ? Who is this Son of 
man f Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little 
ivhile is the .light with you" "I am come a 
light into the world, that whosoever believeth on 
me should not abide in darkness" Farther 
along in these pages it will be illustrated that 
light is a correspondent of spiritual truth, and 
that the Divine Truth, or the Word, is the 
Light proceeding from the Sun of Heaven. 

123. The " Son of Man shall come in His 
glory " to the mind of man when the W^ord 
shall shine with light from its Spiritual Sense. 
This light will illuminate the mind of every 
believer when he perceives the Eternal prin- 
ciples of Divine Love and Wisdom within the 
earthly clothing of the Literal Sense. In 
entering this Portal of Glory the external mind 
must experience sufferings akin to the death of 
the corporeal frame, for all earthly thoughts of 
spiritual principles must perish before the Light 
from Heaven can be borne. 

124. So shall the Sacred Story of the Gospels 
be made the Life of Jesus within the man who 
receives the Word into his life, and in the 
trials and temptations which he will spiritually 



58 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The spiritual crucificixion. 



Familiar comparisons. 



James 4 : 1 
Rom. 6 : 5 
Rom. 6 : 6 
Matt. 28 : 6 
Mark 8 : 31 
Mark 16 : 6 
Mark 16 : 19 

Matt. 27 : 54 

Luke 1 : 40 
Luke 1 : 47 

Luke 2 : 29 
1 Peter 5:10 



Deut. 4 : 39 
Jer. 17 : 15 
Ezjk. 13 : 14 
2 Cor. 6 : 2 
Is. 49 : 7 
Is. 49 : 8 
Is. 49 : 9 
Is 49 : 10 
Is. 49 : 11 
Is. 49 : 12 
Ps 73 : 3 
Ps. 78 : 1 
Ps. 73 : 4 
Ps. 78 : 5 
Ps. 73 : 6 
Ps. 16 ; 7 



undergo, will lie perceive within himself the 
crucifixion, as the appearances of truth in the 
literal sense are dissipated, and at the end of 
the third day, or full state of preparation, the 
Lord will raise him from dead earthly repre- 
sentatives, to perceive that the Living Principle 
of the Internal Sense is the Son of God. Then 
will he realize the true meaning of that Divine 
History, which in its Literal Sense has been 
the guide and comfort of millions, and for 
which thousands have suffered martyrdom. 

THE CRUCIFIXION. 

125. In meditating upon the forms of expres- 
sion contained in the Word which contain the 
Divine Truth, the imagination should not revert 
to the centuries of past earthly history outside 
of one's own spiritual world or experience. It 
is true that in the apparent history of the men 
of old, in the narrative of the journeyings of 
the Children of Israel, and other incidents, 
there may be comparisons made with our own 
struggles through the journey of life. Such 
comparisons are only external, and are familiar 
to all religious people, and the Internal Sense 
does not consist of such similitudes, but is 
founded upon the unchangeable law of the cor- 
respondence between natural ideas or things, 
and spiritual principles, 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 59 



The death on the cross. 



nfinite Love of the Lord. 



126. The passion of the " Son of Man," end- 
ing with the death upon the cross, represents 
the violence which is done to the Divine Truth, 
or the Word, when it is externally honored, 
but is not received into the inner life. It sig- 
nifies the death of the spiritual faculties of man, 
which results from perverting the vital truth of 
the Word, the law of love, by covering it over 
with the traditions of men. This effect is not 
to be seen outside of man's spiritual nature, 
but its tendency is to close the gate of true 
perception of the character of the Word. 

127. When this gate is closed, it is promul- 
gated from the Literal Sense that the Lord is 
a God of wrath and retaliation, like a perverse 
man who is filled with jealousy and revenge, 
whose wounded honor and sense of justice, ac- 
cording to the teachings of men, can only be 
satisfied by certain conditions, which an unsel- 
fish man would shrink from proclaiming to his 
fellow-men. To those who thus think of the 
Lord, while in this state, it cannot be revealed 
that He is the Word which in the life of a re- 
generating man is the Humanity being made 
Divine. 

128. The Internal Sense reveals that the 
Lord Jehovah is Pure, Infinite and Unchanging 
Love, flawing without respect to persons to all 
His creatures whether they are governed by 



€0 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Laws of Divine Order. 



False doctrines. 



2 Sam. 22 : 33 
Acta 26 : 18 
Job 36 : 22 
Is. 55 : 9 
Rom. 11 : 33 

1 Chron. 16 : 
30 

Is. CO : 21 

Job 37 : 23 

Eev. 22 : 17 

Ps. 25 : 10 
Prov. 11 : 5 
Ps. 55 : 5 
Ezek. 3 : 21 
Dan. 4 : 27 

llatt. 14 : 36 
Ps. 23 : 3 
Jer. 10 : 13 
Ps. 139 : 10 

Matt. 26 : 55 
Is. 47 : 14 
Is. 40 : 24 



Lev. 19 : 14 
Is. 57 : 14 



good or evil principles, doing all in His Omni- 
potence to elevate men into spiritual life with- 
out violating His Divine Laws of Order, or the 
freedom of the will of man. It is impossible 
for Him to violate His laws of order. He can- 
not turn the world backward from its course 
in the firmament, for it would cause destruction 
to the whole physical universe, and the Heavens 
which depend upon it. He cannot cause a 
good man to become an evil spirit, neither can 
He drive a man through the Heavenly Portal 
who will not freely walk in the paths which 
lead to Heaven. The re-action of a man's own 
evils upon himself often bring him into such a 
state of anguish and despair, that they force 
him to seek those avenues which are lighted 
with heavenly truths from the Word. 

129. The only tangible way in which the 
Lord guides us, is by means of these heavenly 
truths. We hear no other audible voice, we 
touch no other guiding hand, nor do we see 
Him in any other Form. When His plain 
teachings of simple spiritural and moral duty 
are covered over with the stubble of the com- 
mandments of men, so that the mind, from 
these traditions, is filled with false ideas of the 
nature of the Lord or the Word, which causes 
the simple truth of spiritual life to be cast aside 
for doctrines which tend to foster the love of 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



61 



Death of spiritual perception. 



mprisoned thought 



self in the most insidious form, such doctrines 
kill the spiritual perceptions of the man who 
reads the Word. 

130. Thus the Son of Man " is rejected and 
despised of men," and it should be constantly 
borne in mind that the Word is addressed only 
to the persons who possess and read it. Those 
principles in the nature of man which confirm 
and proclaim doctrines from the Literal Sense 
of the Word which are irrational and are in- 
consistent with the Divine Loving Nature, tend 
to despise the simple commands of obedience 
which the Word utters, and these false prin- 
ciples are the Jews who crucify the " Son of 
Man." 

131. These Jews are externally religious, and 
attend jealously to all the requirements of pub- 
lic worship, and loudly vindicate the honor of 
God, but inwardly they condemn all who do 
not favor their traditions. They are tempted 
to execrate those persons who are in the simple 
interior life of keeping the Commandments, 
whose Living Faith teaches that the obedient 
are devoid of self-righteousness, and whose 
strength is wholly in the Lord. 

132. The "traditions of men" thus obstruct 
the avenues to the perception of the Internal 
Sense of the Word, with the man who is bound 
in thought by their influence. But he who by 



62 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Living Principles. 



Substitution. 



obedience to the Commandments of the Word 
sees the Living Principles of the Internal Sense 
when it is revealed to him, " fears not," for al- 
though they reveal that the body of the literal 
sense is dead in itself alone, yet within that 
Dead Body he sees and feels the Life of the 
Son of God from which his own spiritual body 
is nourished. 

133. Before the Internal Sense is confirmed 
in his life, he is warned by the Word to fear 
those false principles which darken the percep- 
tions, for in their interpretation of the Word 
the " traditions " destroy not only the entrance 
to, but the Spiritual Life within, by the per- 
version of the Literal Sense to sustain errors 
which shut out the light from Heaven. " Fear 
not them which hill the body, but are not able to 
kill the soul : but rather fear him which is able 
to destroy both soul and body in hell" 

134. From a remote period in the history of 
man, there has been in his perverted nature, a 
fallacy of substituting for the simple truth in 
religious duties, such principles which most 
asfree with and favor the Love of Self. This en- 
ticing principle is represented under the form 
of a " serpent," because as serpents live and 
move with their bodies close to the earth, so 
sensual principles are closely connected with 
the external body. Sensual principles are 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



63 



The earthly serpent. 



The heavenly serpent. 



those by which the mind is affected by means 
of the senses, from such external things as are 
represented in the Literal Sense of the Word 
from things in the natural world. By the ex- 
ternal body is not meant the corporeal frame, 
but the external principles of the mind or spir- 
itual body, which come in contact with external 
things by means of the senses. All sensation 
in the corporeal frame is actuated by an inflow- 
ing of perception from the senses of the spiri- 
tual body which is within. 

135. When a man is becoming regenerated 
from the wilderness of the love of self, the sen- 
sual or corporeal principles of his mind are gov- 
erned by internal principles, and are lifted up 
above earthly motives in proportion as Internal 
Principles are perceived within the Literal 
Sense of the Word. The Internal Principle is 
signified by " Moses," who represents the Lord, 
or the Word, and who reveals to the mind its 
interior truths, which, when obeyed with a 
living faith will revive a man from a state of 
spiritual death, and quicken him with Eternal 
Life. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him shall 
not perish, but have eternal life" 

136. The Literal Sense of the Word is 
written by spiritual correspondences with ter- 



64 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Exterior representatives. 



Fear of punishment. 



restrial, physical and natural objects and ideas, 
thus from sensual and visible things. When 
the mind rests only in these outward represen- 
tatives, and does not perceive the spiritual 
principle within, a spiritual blindness is occas- 
ioned, in which the light of simple truth is 
turned into darkness, so that the mind can only 
see that which is physical and natural. 

137. When this is the case with a man who 
reads the Word, he cherishes such doctrines 
from the Literal Sense which most agree with 
his ruling love or fear, and he naturally delights 
in those principles which favor the evasion of 
the responsibility of that obedience by which 
the love of self must be overcome, without 
which, heavenly truth cannot gain admission. 

138. The fear of the punishment for sin actu- 
ates such a man to seek in some way to propi- 
tiate what he supposes to be the wrath of an 
avenging Deity, not being aware that every sin 
will bring its own punishment, and that who- 
ever is in a life of sin is immersed in its punish- 
ment. The idolater, or the man who is gov- 
erned by the love of self, thus brings offerings 
to his deformed god, which is a reflection of 
his own life, and pacifies his mind with the 
thought that he has purchased favor, and thus 
has averted punishment. With greater anxiety 
to escape the punishment of his sins than to 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 65* 



Atonement. 



Peace on earth. 



combat his hereditary evils, and overcome 
them, he hails with joy the offer of a substitute, 
for the penalty which he fears, and which 
he finds provided in doctrines which only 
in appearance seem to be confirmed from 
the Literal Sense of the Word. The only 
atonement which the Internal Sense of the 
Word reveals, is the conjunction of a man's 
life in his interior motives 
Truths of the Word. 



with the Living 



Ezek. 36 : 25 
James 4 : 7* 
Rom. 10 : 2T 

Deut. 28 : 58 

Acts 22 : 6 
Hag. 1 : 12 

Ps. 18 : 44 
Rom. 13 : 12 



Is. 38 : 16 



Mai. 2 



Rom. 7 : 21 



Rom. 7 : 14 



John 10 ; 1 



THE SON OF GOD. 

139. Living Truths are those which a man 
manifests in his life by loving to do them, but 
before regeneration begins, the natural prin- 
ciple of his life is opposed to candid obedience, 
and he seeks to " climb up some other way." 
Jesus, the Son of God, is the Interior Truth of j Mai. 2 
the Word which the regenerating man delights 
in obeying. He is " the Way, the Truth, and 
the Life." The Word is " Hie door," by obedi- 
ence to which, from affection for its truths, " if 
any man enter in, he shall be saved" The Good 
Shepherd leads by the truths of the Word to a 
life of "peace on earth arid good-will to men ; " 
" peace on earth" signifying a state of blessed- 
ness resulting from the cessation of conflict 
between the spiritual and natural principles 
within, as the love of self is overcome through 

E 



Is. 38 : 20 
John 14 : 6 
John 10 : 9 
Matt. 25 : 21 
Heb. 4 : 11 

John 10 : 11 
Heb. 4 : 9 
Lev. 26 : 6 
Mark 4 : 39 
Ps. 55 : 18 
Rev. 21 : 7 



66 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Good Shepherd. 



The Divinity manifested. 



John 10 : 14 

John 10 : 27 
John 10 : 16 
John 10 : 4 
John 10 : 7 
Ps. 23 : 1 

John 10 : 8 
John 10 ; 12 
Jer. 22 : 29 
Is. 59 : 9 
Is. 56 : 10 
Joel 2 : 6 
Jer. 4 : 23 

2 Sam. 22 : 47 
Jer. 4 : 2 

1 John 4 : 8 
Ps. 78 : 23 

2 Cor. 4 : 7 
Gen. 26 : 19 
Is. 66 : 18 
Ps. 69 : 32 
Ps. 107 : 42 
John 1 : 34 
Ps. 145 : 7 



a life of obedience to the Word. " The Good 
Shepherd giveth his Life for the sheep" By 
" sheep " in the Word are meant those persons 
whose ruling motive is to obey the Divine 
Truth, because they love the life to which it 
leads, A " shepherd " signifies the Lord. The 
Lord is the Word, and thus the Word is the 
Good Shepherd. 

140. Those false principles which are con- 
firmed from the literal sense, which fill the 
mind only with natural ideas concerning the 
Word, and which obscure the perception of the 
plain living truths, are the " thieves and robbers" 
which " climbeth up some other way" and which 
" cometh not but for to steal, and to Mil, and to 
destroy" 

141. The interior Living Principle of the 
Word is the actual Life of the Lord from whom 
all life exists. It is the Infinite Love and 
Wisdom existing in successive degrees of hea- 
venly order until it descends into the dead 
forms of natural language, based upon the dead 
forms of natural objects, so that the Lord may 
manifest Himself to the natural mind of man in 
a Human Form, and lead him to perceive the 
Divinity within this Human Principle. "And 
I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of 
God" Thus does He come " that they might 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



07 



Man is to open the door. 



The form of the Human Principle. 



have life, and that they might have it more abun- 
dantly," who " open the door " of the Word. 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any 
man hear my voice, and open the door, I will 
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he 
with me" 

THE HUMAN FORM. 

142. By Form, is meant the mode or order of 
operation. A spiritual principle takes its form 

•according to its intended use, or object of its 
creation. The corporeal frame of man takes 
its form from the spiritual body within it, and 
this form is created in such shape that the at- 
tainment of his earthly and spiritual life may 
be fulfilled, the culmination of which is, that he 
may be of use to his fellow-beings both here 
and in the other world, according to the facul- 
ties with which he is endowed by the Lord. 

143. In order to attain this sphere of useful- 
ness on earth, he has all the physical organs 
given which depend on each other. His legs 
and feet support and carry him from place to 
place in the journey of life. The organs with- 
in the trunk above, are used for the nourish- 
ment of the whole system and the sustaining of 
life. By his arms and hands he performs the 
duties of life, earns his living, and manifests the 
life within, so that his ultimate power resides 



Is. 55 : 7 
Ex. 34 : 6 
Rev. 19 : 9 
Luke 12 : 36 
Luke 12 : 37 



Is. 45 : 18 
Is. 43 : 7 
Ex. 4 : 11 
1 Cor. 15 : 49 
Col. 2 : 17 
Col. 3 : 10 
Luke 4:4 
Eph. 4 : 24 
Eph. 4 : 16 
Eph. 4 : 12 
Is. 43 : 21 

Eph. 1 : 22 
Eph. 1 : 23 
Is. 33 : 15,18 

1 Cor. 12 : 12 
1 Cor. 12 : 20 
Is. 59 : 16 

Ps. 24 : 3 
Ps. 24: 4 



68 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



The Eartfvv Fcrm. 



The Divine Form, 



Is. 46 : 9 
Is. 40 : 26 
Is. 40 : 29 



in his hands and finders. Each finger is made 
to serve the other, while the thumb, as chief 
minister serves them all. The head contains 
the brain in which resides the intelligence 
which directs all thought, speech and actions, 
and which shines through the expression of the 
face. 

144. The science of anatomy explains the 
use of each exterior and interior principle of 
the corporeal frame, every minute organ of 
which has its corresponding spiritual principle 
within the mind or spiritual body of man. The 
form of man is given him in its actual shape, in 
order that he may love the Lord and the 
neighbor with the utmost facility. To inhabit 
this temple of the spirit with any other motive, 
is to desecrate and pervert it, by profaning it 
with idolatry, or the worship of self. 

145. In order to comprehend what is meant 
by the Human Form, or Human Principle, of 
the Word, it will be essential to perceive what 
principles constitute the spiritual nature of 
man ; and in order to understand the nature of 
man, there must exist some finite idea of the 
nature of God, from whom man has his being 
and existence. 

146. There is One Lord Jehovah from whom 
all life originates, and who perpetually keeps 
all things in existence by constant creation. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



69 



The Creator. 



The Spiritual Sun. 



He is the Substance and Form from which 
angels, spirits and men receive their substance 
and form, and when their lives are formed by 
the Living Principles of the Word, they become 
images and likenesses of Him. All things are 
created by the Lord from Himself, and the 
Word in no place communicates the thought 
that He created all things out of nothing, for 
nothing can produce nothing. 

147. The Lord is Infinite Love and Infinite 
Wisdom, from whom all affection and thought 
exists in man. This Infinite Love and Wisdom 
constitute One Essential Life in One Person, 
and the mind may be aided in perceiving these 
two principles by means of the correspondence 
of the sun of the natural world with these 
spiritual principles. 

148. The sun sends forth heat and light, 
which respectively represent the Divine Love 
and Wisdom. The sun itself represents the 
Lord in Essence and Person. The heat repre- 
sents His Love ; the light represents His Wis- 
dom, and the going forth of the heat and light 
united in the rays of the sun as they proceed 
to vivify with life all the living things of the 
earth, represents the Divine Proceeding, or 
the operation of the Holy Spirit. Thus, as 
there is heat, light, and operation or effect, and 
but one sun from which they exist, so in the 



70 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Father, Son and Holy Spirit 



The natural man. 



Lord, as One Person there is Divine Love, 
Divine Wisdom, and the Divine Proceeding, 
called in the Word, the Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit. 

149. From this Infinite Trinity in One Per- 
son, a triune principle exists in all finite things 
in heaven, man, and earth, each created thing 
being receptive of Love, Wisdom, and Power, 
according to its nature and capacity. 

150. Man has no life in himself, and even in 
his spirit is only a dead receptacle of Life from 
the Lord. Man's spiritual nature consists of 
two faculties : the will, which is the receptacle 
of Love from the Lord, and the understanding, 
which is the receptacle of Wisdom from the 
Lord. In his natural state, he does not recog- 
nize this principle of life, but attributes all that 
he thinks, says, and does, to what he supposes 
to be his own knowledge, which is only so in 
appearance. His will, instead of regarding the 
Love of the Lord, from which its life is derived, 
burns only to gratify the love of self, and does 
not inwardly seek the welfare of others, but 
puts himself first in thought, if he does not 
outwardly do so. He does not make the rule 
of his life, " As ye would that others should do 
to you, so do ye also unto them," and does not 
inwardly desire the Lord, or the Word, to be 
his guide. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



71 



A dead man. 



A li 



ving man. 



151. In this state of life he is dead, for he 
has no spiritual life, and is actuated by no 
higher motives than the animals which perform 
earthly uses, although his natural understand- 
ing may be filled with sagacity and learning. 
He differs from the beasts in this respect : his 
understanding is enlightened with truths which 
he does not obey, although he has the faculty 
for obedience, while a beast has no under- 
standing of truth, but an instinct which flows 
into his brain, which he obeys according to the 
laws of the order of his nature. The animal 
attains the full end of his being in this physical 
world, while man possesses faculties by which 
he may attain angelic life. 

152. The faculties which constitute man are, 
the perception of goodness, which is made acute 
by the desire for spiritual life, and the faculty 
of understanding truth when it is presented to 
the mind. In order that spiritual life may enter 
the will of man, he must obey the truth which 
he knows. He must bring it forth into life. 
This truth is found only in the Word, or in 
books derived from the Word. 

153. This truth brought forth into the life of 
the man who reads it from the Word, will 
change his will from being ruled by the love of 
self, to an acknowledgment of the Lord, for he 
then gives up his own life of hereditary evil, 



72 



THE FACE OF JESUS 



The Body of the Lord. 



The Trinity in Unity. 



and the Lord, or the Word, enters, and he 
begins to grow into the form of a true man. 
The truths therein which he feeds upon, con- 
stitute the Body of the Lord, which is given to 
him in the natural or literal form of the Word. 
The nourishment derived from this Body will 
regenerate his life, and bring the two faculties 
of the will and understanding into harmonious 
operation, so that they will become receptive of 
the Divine Love and Wisdom, and he will be 
converted into a true rational man according 
to the laws of heavenly order. 

154. The Word in its operation within the 
regenerating man is in the Human Form, for it 
contains within its literal form a Divine Prin- 
ciple, which, when applied to the life, will change 
his thoughts from natural to spiritual concep- 
tions, from animal to human life, and this Power 
from the Word in man is the Divine Proceeding, 
or the Holy Spirit, and thus the Word is the 
Divine Humanity which the Lord assumes in 
the will and understanding of the spiritual man, 
and hence is the explanation of what is meant 
by the Human Principle of the Word. 

THE TEINITY IN ONE PERSON. 



Ps. Ill: 9 



155. As the Divine Love and Wisdom oper- 
ate in the spiritual nature of man by means of 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



73 



The Divine Trinitv reflected. 



Clouds and smoke. 



the Word, and thus its Triune Principle may be 
seen, so the effect of the will and the under- 
standing, going forth into his words and actions, 
reflects this Divine Trinity in a regenerating 
man. Here the distracted mind may rest in the 
One Living God who is Incarnated in the Word, 
the Word made flesh and dwelling in the will 
and understanding of the man who is to live 
forever as an angel in heaven. Here is the 
Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah God, the Divine 
Love and Wisdom of the Word, Incarnated and 
made manifest in the "flesh," or regenerated 
will of the man to whom he speaks by the 
Word, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" 
156. The perplexed mind may behold in the 
Word, this One Personal God from Eternity, 
and think of Him as always the same unci un- 
changeable in His Divine Love and Wisdom, 
and in the Eternal Past, Present and Future, 
abide in Him alone. Thus may we think of 
Him as within the Sun of the Spiritual Heaven, 
the word, with His Heat and Light steadily 
shining without diminution, although its rays 
are often obscured by the evils and falsities of 
the men who misinterpret His Love, and make 
Him appear as a God after their own hearts, 
just as the earth is surrounded by clouds and 
smoke, and inclines its poles away from the 
illuminating centre of its orbit, so that the in- 



74 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Exhalations from the earth. 



The Father and the Son. 



fluences of the perpetual sun appear to vary 
according to the declinations and exhalations 
from the earth's surface, and its rays do not 
enter in their fulness of power. 

157. The Triune Principles of the Word are 
personified in the names of the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, so that thoughts concerning 
God should take the Human Form in the mind. 
All men are sons from fathers, and yet there is 
but One Father of all to whom the mind reverts 
as the Creator. Without such a mode of pre- 
sentation, men would have had no idea of One 
Personal Being, for the mind must behold 
sentient forms in order to abstract spiritual 
principles therefrom, otherwise the mental eyes 
could not have seen any higher attributes in 
the Deity than they would perceive in the clouds 
and murky atmospheres which surround the 
earth, and thus behold no Infinite Being in the 
Human Form. 

158. Enlightened reason has been given man 
to recognize that God could consist of but One 
Person, although there have been doctrines 
prevalent which taught that there is more than 
One Person, derived from material thoughts 
concerning the Literal Sense of the Word. 
The apparent separation of the Father and the 
Son is based upon the physical appearance of 
the Incarnation as an event outside of the ex- 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



75> 



No Divinity without the Internal Sense. 



Unchangeable unity. 



perience of the man who reads or hears the 
Word. If the "Word contained no Internal 
Sense within the external forms of expression 
which clothe it, it conld not be Divine, although 
it treats of sacred things in the Literal Sense, 
because without the soul within the literal 
expression, many utterances based upon the 
appearances of truth could not be reconciled 
with that rationality which is enlightened from 
above. 

159. This is why the Lord has permitted it 
to be revealed that the Word contains an In- 
ternal Sense, which communicates to the mind 
of a man who is seeking spiritual life, that the 
Lord Jesus Christ is the Divine Love and 
Wisdom within the life of him who receives it 
in his will and understanding, and thus to him 
the Word is God. 

160. It would not be truly rational to say 
with the mouth that the Lord is One Person, 
and inwardly think of a Father in Heaven and 
a human Son upon the earth, for then the mind 
inwardly would be in confliction on account of 
the separation of the two principles represented 
by the Father and the Son, which in the Lord 
must be united and unchangeable, without 
states, or seasons of being greater or less in 
power, according to the appearance of more or 
less love in the changeable nature of man. If 



76 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Son not a physical man. 



The Rational faculty closed. 



by the Son it should be understood in the least 
that it conveys to the mind that it is a physical 
corporeal frame of the Lord upon this terrestrial 
globe, then the idea of the Father and the Son 
becomes that of Two Persons, and the thought 
is then distracted from the true Spiritual Sense 
of the Word. Thus the Lord Jesus Christ is 
not to be thought of as a physical man or 
Person on the earth, but His Commandments 
in the Word are to be obeyed and loved, which 
is the only way in which He can be loved, for 
the Word is His Person, and these Command- 
ments loved and brought forth in the life of a 
regenerated man, constitute the ultimate degree 
or External Form of the Divine Humanity. 

161. When the mind, in its abstraction from 
earthly things and their appearances in the 
Word, meditates upon the Divine Principles 
of this One Person, or the Commandments of 
the Word, spiritual perception flows in from 
Heaven, for Heaven is from the Lord, and there 
the angels know of but One Person. Where 
the idea of more than One Person exists in the 
mind, the door of the rational faculty, through 
which spiritual light enters, will be closed by 
the fallacies which result from the thoughts of 
more than One, because the effect in the mind 
is to create as many Gods as there are Persons, 
for the man then desires to worship each Per- 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



77 



One Human Form. 



Causes of anxiety. 



son, and is not fixed upon the vital Center of 
Life, and spiritual life can recognize but One 
Person in One Being or Human Form in which 
is the Infinite Human Principle. 

162. The external form of the face and body 
does not constitute the human principle of man, 
but the Understanding of Truth and the Love of 
Good, which actuate his life, and the operation 
of these two principles by which he manifests 
them to others, form the Triune Human Principle 
which exists in man because it is derived from 
the Infinite Human Principle which is within 
the Word of God. 

SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES ABSTRACTED FROM LITERAL 
EXPRESSIONS. 

163, Spiritual principles cannot be appre- 
hended, unless a person, by intelligent rational 
discipline has obtained power to abstract the 
mind from all things of time and space which 
belong to this physical world. Time and space 
belong only to the things of this world, and we 
shall soon exist beyond their influence, where 
spiritual principles are real and palpable to the 
senses. This reality exists even now while we 
are imprisoned in the corporeal frame, but we 
are so absorbed with the things of sense, from 
which arise all our cares and anxieties, that it 
is difficult to realize that we are spiritual beings, 



78 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Spiritual World a real-ty. 



Thoughts within words. 



and that we are surrounded with a spiritual 
universe more real than the objects which we 
see in the physical world about us. 

If we were solicitous about those principles 
which will exist after the death of the corporeal 
frame, and which constitute Eternal Life in 
Heaven, our perception of spiritual things 
would be quickened, for when we love these 
truths we drink them in with delight and per- 
ceive their reality, because that which a man 
loves constitutes his life, and if he does not 
love a life founded upon true spiritual prin- 
ciples, he cannot comprehend them when they 
are presented to his mind. 

164. All s}3iritual ideas must first be pre- 
sented to the mind in natural language, or by 
natural forms. If a person is communicating 
thought to our minds by means of speech, we 
hear the sound of his voice, and the words 
which he utters. The sound of the words is 
not what the mind retains, but the idea is 
extracted which the words convey. The result 
is the same when we read a book. We see the 
letters which form the words, and the words 
convey ideas which exist in the mind of the 
author, and these ideas are associated with 
things of this world, either in relation to science 
or history, or are connected with the natural 
imagination as found in works of fiction. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



79 



Power of abstraction. 



Measurement of progression. 



165. It is possible to apprehend spiritual 
principles abstracted from time and space while 
in this life, and to perceive that they constitute 
the reality from which all things are derived. 
If we think interiorly, we shall perceive that 
the Lord Jehovah in His Infinite Love and 
Wisdom, exists above or within all conceptions 
of time and space, and also that all affection 
and thought in man exist independent of time 
and space. Our thoughts can even now reach 
forward to higher development in spiritual 
intelligence, and our affections become warm 
with joy when we contemplate the attainment 
of greater love for the Lord and the neighbor, 
while the weak corporeal frame may be pros- 
trated with infirmity, and be confined within 
the fixed limits of the walls of a room. When 
our minds are absorbed with subjects which 
we love, we do not regard the passing hours, 
but when we are in seasons of temptation and 
grief, the time passes slowly and the clays and 
nights seem long. 

166. The order of a man's regenerate life is 



measured by successive 



states or 



degrees of 



advancement from evil to good, and thus pro- 
gression in Divine principles is made. These 
progressions are not measured by days, months, 
or years, but by obedience to the truths of the 
Word. Regeneration is only attained through 



80 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Struggle between good and evil. 



Wars and combats- 



successive struggles in which the conflict be- 
tween good and evil within the man results in 
the victory of the Lord over every evil and 
false principle, and then dawns the Sabbath of 
peace which is sanctified by the Lord. Thus 
the regeneration of a man's spiritual life may 
be thought of, abstracted from earthly time 
and space, and therefore all the principles of 
good and evil may be thought of independent 
of material things in themselves. 

167. All books of earthly sciences, history, 
and fiction, have relation to natural things and 
ideas, but the Word of God treats only of 
principles concerning the regeneration of man, 
or of his spiritual life, and the mind must be 
abstracted from the natural form of things 
narrated therein, and the spiritual principles 
represented by them will be perceived in the 
place of the literal appearance. 

168. The apparent history of events in the 
Word thus becomes true history of the spiritual 
states of man in the order of his regeneration, 
which occur historically as they are related. 
All the narratives become historical facts, for 
in their order they are representative of the 
progress of the regenerating man toward the 
Life of Heaven. All the wars and combats, 
with their apparent historical surroundings and 
circumstances, are representative of principles 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



81 



Typical characteristics. 



A spiritual panorama. 



which the characteristics of the men typify, 
either good or evil, true or false. These his- 
torical narratives being representative of true 
spiritual history which must occur in the order 
of the regeneration of man, the rational mind 
will clearly perceive that it is not essential for 
salvation from sin, to believe that they were 
occurrences of actual physical history in suc- 
cessive earthly events. 

169. A portrait hanging upon the wall, or 
found in an album, is representative of a person. 
The picture is not the person, but serves to 
bring the original form before the mind, and as 
the copy of the face appears before the sight, 
so the qualities of the man as we have known 
him, or have read of him, appear before our 
thoughts. 

170. So the Word of God is a panorama of 
true spiritual events in the history of each 
regenerate man, for spiritual principles alone 
are true and eternal. In the Letter of the 
Word nothing is apparent but mere history 
which in many instances seems remote from 
Divine principles. Within the form of the 
Literal Sense are concealed heavenly truths 
which cannot be seen as long as the mind and 
eyes are confined to the historical narratives, 
and they cannot be revealed to the mind until 
the thoughts are abstracted from the Literal 

F 



82 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



The Literal exists from the Internal Sense. 



Eternal Truths. 



Sense, which is derived from the Internal Sense. 
It is contrary to the laws of order to think of 
the Internal Sense being derived from the 
Literal Sense, just as it would be to accept the 
husk in place of the ear of corn within. 

171. In the abstraction or removal of the 
mind from the earthly things mentioned in the 
Literal Sense, when the coherent spiritual sense 
appears, and during its perception, the Literal 
Sense in itself alone then dies to the illuminated 
mind, for it has no life in itself independent 
from the Internal Sense, as the corporeal frame 
does not live from itself when the man enters 
the spiritual world. 

172. The Literal Sense of the Word is the 
corporeal frame which holds its Spiritual 
Body, and while the mind is occupied with the 
external appearances, the internal contents 
cannot appear, for they are the truths which 
exist in the Spiritual World from which all the 
truths in this world are derived, and which 
govern the lives of angels and spirits, for man 
increases in knowledge after he enters the other 
world, by means of instruction from the Word. 
The Sense of the Letter, being corporeal, does 
not enter the other world, but the spiritual 
principles which are historically related, are 
Eternal Truths, a proof of which can only be 
demonstrated to the man who lives according 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



83 



Self-intelligent wisdom. 



A " hard saying.' 



to the Light which shines from the Face of the 
Word. 

173. A man who is filled with self-intelligence, 
and deems himself wiser than others, cannot 
perceive the light from the Internal Sense, and 
spends his efforts in seeking confirmations of 
literal physical events to prove his position, 
utterly rejecting the affirmation that the Word 
of God treats of spiritual principles alone, 
teaching heavenly truths by means of natural 
forms and ideas. The time is rapidly approach- 
ing in the history of intelligent men, when self- 
intelligent science and human erudition, in 
darkness will make war upon the outer court 
of the Temple of God. Then will its gate of 
pearl open, and the Light from the Altar will 
shine through and disperse the enemies of 
Divine Truth. 

THE INTERNAL SENSE. 

174. The reason that the Internal Sense of 
the Word has not been known among religious 
men in the past, and why it has not been under- 
stood clearly that the Lord has only " dwelt 
among us" by the Word, is, because the state 
of the affections and thoughts of men have not 
hitherto been able to bear it, and at first it will 
be a " hard saying " to many, for it will seem 
to them that these interior principles have 



84 



I HE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Living Word. 



Orderly laws of science. 



" taken away their Lord," but the light from 
the Internal Sense reveals Him as the Living 
Word, and all who desire may there see Jesus 
" standing" in the Human Form, and know 
that He is both the Lord and the Word, when 
they perceive Him guiding their footsteps by 
the Word into those paths which lead to perfect 
peace. 

175. Many years ago, the Lord revealed the 
undistorted, coherent, and rational interpre- 
tation of the Internal Sense of the Word, in 
which He plainly declares Himself to be the 
Word, and that all the physical appearances- 
which are there narrated are purely correspon- 
dences of spiritual principles from the Lord 
which exist in the mind of man by means of 
the Word. This Eevelation of the Internal 
Sense is from the Lord alone. It was written 
in Latin, and was placed upon the shelves of 
the libraries of the principal Universities of 
Europe, to await the time when men should be 
prepared to receive it as Divine Truth : when 
earthly knowledge should begin to undermine 
the physical appearances in the Letter of the 
Word and prove them inconsistent with the 
orderly laws of natural science, so that thinking 
men who read the Word would be compelled 
to acknowledge an inward spiritual principle 
higher than metaphor, which is consistent and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 85 



higher intuitions. 



Three degrees of order. 



coherent, and thus be led to higher intuitions 
of their own being and of the realities of the 
spiritual world. 

176. The Word of God will neither be re- 
jected nor despised by those who there perceive 
the Lord, for the knowledge of the Internal 
Sense will protect it from all the assaults of 
false principles, perverted reason, and atheism. 

177. The spiritual descendants of the his- 
torical Jews do not yet perceive that the 
Messiah has come, for He has not come in the 
external earthly glory for which they have been 
looking. The Son of Man has come " in the 
clouds of heaven with po wer and great glory," 
by the Internal Sense of the Word, which re- 
veals that Jesus is the Divine Love, and that 
Christ is the Divine Wisdom embodied in the 
Word, from the reception and union of which 
in the regenerated will and understanding of 
man, spiritual life in unity is produced, and is 
externally manifested in Love to the Neighbor. 

DEGREES OF ORDER. 

178. There are Three Distinct Degrees of 
Order in all things of the spiritual and material 
universe, each depending on the other, and 
these three degrees are contained within each 
sub-division or particle derived from any object. 
As the full illustration of this subject would 



86 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Three earthly degrees. 



Three mental degrees. 



occupy the entire pages of a book, a brief out- 
line simply can be given. 

179. The earth contains an Animal, Vege- 
table, and Mineral kingdom. The Animal 
Kingdom is the highest in respect to the in- 
flowing of life, the Vegetable Kingdom is next 
in order, and the Mineral Kingdom is the 
lowest. All objects contain Length, Breadth, 
and Thickness, and they have Substance, Form 
and Use. A Circle contains a Centre, Diameter, 
and a Circumference, and it is formed from the 
Centre. It is a common rule in universal nature 
that whatever is purest and most noble, is 
Innermost, and occupies the Centre. 

180. If a circular pillar should have three 
equal divisions, the lowest of brass, the inter- 
mediate division of silver, and the highest of 
gold, and be melted upon a heated plane sur- 
face, the brass would first subside and spread 
itself out so as to form the circumference, the 
silver would form a concentric circle within, 
while the gold, which was the highest, would 
form the inmost or centre of the substances of 
this circle. In Degrees of Comparison, the 
Superlative is the highest or inmost, the Com- 
parative is the intermediate, and the Positive 
is the lowest or outermost. The Mind of Man 
contains the Will, or inmost principle, the 
Understanding, or intermediate, and the Life, 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



87 



Three Heavenly degrees. 



Three Heavens- 



or union thence proceeding, which is the ex- 
ternal manifestation. 

181. There are three degrees of heavenly life, 
the Celestial, or inmost, the Spiritual, or inter- 
mediate, and the Natural, or external. The 
word natural, when applied to the mind or 
principles of the Word, signifies the lowest or 
ultimate principle, but it has nothing in common 
with terrestrial or physical things, excepting 
by correspondence. The Natural Principle 
constitutes the external mind. In the Internal 
Sense of the Word, the names Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, represent these three principles of 
the Word, and all other names are representa- 
tive of sub-divisions of these principles, or their 
opposites, according to the subject which is 
being treated of. The words Canaan, Assyria, 
and Egypt, as well as Judea, Samaria, and 
Galilee, are also significative of the same prin- 
ciples, also Zion, Jerusalem, and Nazareth, and 
the names of the rivers Euphrates, Jordan, and 
the Nile. 

182. There are Three Heavens, which, like 
the pillar of gold, silver, and brass, are perfectly 
distinct from each other, viz., the Inmost or 
Third Heaven, the Middle, or Second Heaven, 
and the Ultimate, or First Heaven, and the 
principles of these Three Heavens lie within 
the plane surface of the Literal Sense of the 



2 Cor 4 ; IX 



1 Cor. 15 : 40 
1 Cor. 15 : 44- 
lCor. 15 : 46 

1 Cor. 15 : 54 
1 Cor 15 : 48 

Hos. 2 : 22 
Ex. 3 : 6 
Matt. 8 : 11 



Josh. 5 : 12 



s. 19 : 23 



John 4 



John 4 : 4 

Ps. 147 : 12 \ 
Luke 1 : 26 k 

Rev. 9 : 14 ) 
Ps. 114 : 5 - 
Gen 15: lb ) 



§ ISO 



2 Cor 12 : 2 



§ ISO 

Rev. 1: 19 



88 



HIE FACE OF JESUS: 



Three interior receptacles. 



Four senses within the Word. 



Word. The interiors of the mind of a regene- 
rated man become receptacles of these Three 
Heavenly Principles, which give them form. 
In each Precept of the Word there are Three 
Interior Senses within, or in addition to the 
Literal Sense, descending in successive order 
from the Lord, through the Three Heavens 
until they rest upon the Literal Sense, which, 
when taken into the natural thoughts of a 
regenerating man, becomes the plane surface 
upon which they are spread in continuous order 
so that the understanding as it is enlightened 
may perceive the Inmost, Middle, and Ultimate 
meaning which the natural words enclose. 

183. Wherefore the Word is in each Heaven, 
and all the knowledge of the Lord is there 
obtained from the Word in its respective 
Internal Sense, for all angels are regenerated 
men. Thus the Word was given that men may 
be prepared for Heaven, and there continue 
to derive their celestial and spiritual life from 
its truths. Descending through the Three 
Heavens, it is accommodated in its Internal 
Sense to the quality of the lives of the angels 
of each Heaven, and finally rests in its Literal 
Sense for the minds of men in this world. Thus 
the Word has a fourth sense on account of the 
Literal Sense being a foundation for the natural 
mind, as the earth must exist in order that a 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



89 



Fulness of the Literal Sense. 



Concentration of Mind. 



man may have his being commenced, and a 
place in which to begin the life of regeneration, 
which begins from the truths of the literal 
sense, in which the whole Word rests in its 
fulness. 

184. In the endeavor to concentrate the mind 
upon the One Divine Man, the word, from 
whom all regenerated men are created, it may 
be of assistance to present an illustration of 
some of the Divine Attributes, with their de- 
rivatives in man, representing the Triune 
Principles of the Word in abstract form. 



Amos 9 : 6 
Is. 51 : 16 
Is. 34 : 1 
Col. 2 : 9 
Col. 2 : 1 

Col. 2 : 6 
Col. 2 ; 10 
Col. 1 : 22 
Col. 1 : 23 
Col. 1 : 12 
Col. 1 : 13 
Col. 1 : 15 



Make Thy Face to Shine upon thy servant ; and teach 
me the way of Thy statutes. Ps. 119 : 135. 



90 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Abstract Principles. Living Principles. 



TRIUNE PRINCIPLES 

OF 

THE WORD, 

OR 

THE DIVINE HUMANITY 



m TT T^ 

THE 


Or 

LORD JESUS 


CHRIST. 


END, 


CAUSE, 


EFFECT. 


SUBSTANCE, 


FORM, 


USE. 


CELESTIAL, 


SPIRITUAL, 


NATURAL. 


INFINITE, 


ETERNAL, 


SELF-EXISTENT. 


OMNIPOTENCE. 


OMNISCIENCE, 


OMNIPRESENCE, 


LOVE, 


WISDOM, 


POWER. 


CREATOR, 


REDEEMER, 


REGENERATOR. 


JEHOVAH, 


GOD, 


ALMIGHTY. 


FATHER, 


SON, 


HOLY SPIRIT. 


DIVINE, 


HUMANITY, 


REVELATION. 


GOODNESS, 


TRUTH, 


HOLINESS. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



91 



Personification of Divine Truth. 



Eternal Life. 



JESUS ^ 



ANOINTED. 
COUNSELLOR. 
EMMANUEL. 
GOOD SHEPHERD. 
GOVERNOR. 
INTERCESSOR. 
JUDGE. 
KING OF GLORY. 
KING OF KINGS. 
LAMB OF GOD. 
LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 
LORD OF LORDS. 
MEDIATOR, 

CHRIST. 

MESSIAH. 
MIGHTY GOD. 
PRINCE OF PEACE. 
SAVIOUR. 
SON OF DAVID. 
SON OF GOD. 
SON OF MAN. 
TEACHER. 
TRUTH. 
WAY. 
WONDERFUL. 
WORD. 



ETERNAL LIFE 



92 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Regenerating principles. Derivates from the Will. 

TRIUNE PRINCIPLES 

IN THE 

REGENERATE MAN FROM THE WORD. 

< K ^ 

WILL, UNDERSTANDING, EXERCISE. 

AFFECTION, THOUGHT, ACTION. 

LOVE TO THE LORD, LOVE TO THE NEIGHBOR, SPIRITUAL LIFE 
CHARITY, FAITH, GOOD WORKS. 



185. From the Divine Love in the Will of the Re- 
generate Man there emanates 



Adoration. 


Desire. 


Good- will. 


Long-suffering. 


Reconciliation. 


Affection. 


Devotion. 


Gratitude. 


Meekness. 


Sacrifice. 


Apprciation. 


Emotion, 


Holiness. 


Mercy. 


Temperance. 


Benevolence. 


Enthusiasm. 


Humility. 


Modesty. 


Tenderness. 


Charity. 


Forbearance. 


Innocence. 


Patience. 


Virtue. 


Chastity. 


Forgiveness. 


Joy. 


Peace. 


Worship. 


•Compassion. 


Gentleness. 


Justice. 


Pity. 


Yearning. 


Consolation. 


Goodness. 


Kindness. 


Purity. 


Zeal, etc. , etc. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



93 



Qualities from the Understanding. Evil principles. 

186. From the Divine Wisdom in the Understanding; 
of the Kegenerate Man there emanates 

Accomplishment. Discernment. Forethought. Invention. Rationality. 

Acknowledgment. Discretion. Honesty. Judgment. Representation 

Communication. Doctrine. Illustration. Knowledge. Revelation. 

Comprehension. Education. Inference. Meditation. Self-examination- 
Confession. EnJightenment.Insight. Memory. Sincerity, 

Conscience. Explanation. Integrity. Perception. Trust, 

Contemplation. Faith. Intelligence. Prudence. Verity, etc., etc. 

187. On account of the existence of the Love of Self 
and the World, from which all evil and falsity is derived, 
every good and true spiritual principle is perverted by 
the unregenerated man, and is changed into its opposite 
principle, and thus every natural idea which is in the 
Word has a good or evil meaning according to the sub- 
ject which is being treated. The Divine Love and 
Wisdom flowing to the unregenerated man, cannot enter 
his life and cause him to be embued with spiritual prin- 
ciples, for it is perverted by his own nature, and instead 
of entering his will and understanding with vivifying 
influences, it becomes changed by the nature of man 
into the following Triune Principles : 

f 

LOVE OF SELF, 
EVIL, 
HATRED, 
DEVIL, 

^, 



LOVE OF THE WORLD, 

FALSITY, 

INSANITY, 

SATAN, 



^SPIRITUAL DEATH- 



94 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Evil qualities from the Will. Evil qualities from the Understanding. 

188. From the Love of Self in the Unregenerated 



man there emanates, 



Adultery. 
Animosity. 
Apathy. 
Aversion. 



Debauchery. Iniquity. 
Disapointment Intrigue. 
Dislike. Injustice. 
Dissipation. 



Love of rule. Quarrelling. 
Malevolence. Rancor. 
Malice. Retaliation. 
Intemperance. Malignity. Revenge. 
Bitterness. Destruction. Indifference. Meanness. Ribaldry. 
Brutality. Harshness. Jealousy. Mercilessness. Slavery. 

Lasciviousness. Murder. Spite. 
Lewdness. Obscenity. Suffering. 
Libertinism. Oppression. Tyranny. 
Lust. Pride. Violence, etc.,etc. 



Carnality. Hatred. 
Complaining. Immorality. 
Concupisence. Impurity. 
Cruelty. Ingratitude. 



189. From the love of the World in the Unregenerated 
man there emanates 



Distortion. Hypocrisy. Misguiding. Profanity. 

Dulness. Indiscretion. Misrule. Scepticism. 

Ignorance. Negation. Schism. 

Infidelity. Obscurity. Stupidity. 

Insanity. Perfidy. Theft. 

Irrationality. Perjury. Time serving. 

Darkness. Hallucination. Knavery. Policy. Treachery. 

Dishonesty. Heresy. Lying. Perversion. Unreliability, etc., etc. 



Atheism. 
Betrayal. 
Blindness. Deism. 
'Concealment. Envy. 
Covetousnesss. Error. 
Cupidity. Falsity. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



95 



The nature of man. 



The nature of the Devil. 



THE LOVE OF SELF THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 

190. In thinking of man as a spiritual being, 
the mind should be abstracted from the physical 
frame which we behold on earth, and we should 
consider those spiritual principles which con- 
stitute Man, so that he may be perceived as a 
being in the Spiritual World, and thus the 
principles of the Word apply to Angels and 
Spirits when obeyed, and to evil and false 
spirits, or Devils and Satans, when they are 
disobeyed and perverted. 

191. Love and Wisdom, with all their cle- 
rivates, emanate only from the Lord, or the 
Word. By a thoughtful reference to the pre- 
ceding Dual and Triune classification of spiritual 
principles, it will be seen that no evil exists 
until Divine Principles reach the nature of 
man, and are perverted and violated by the 
freedom with which he is endowed. It may 
also be clearly seen that there is no Fallen 
God, who in the Literal Sense of the Word is 
called the Devil and Satan, and who in appear- 
ance seems to possess a power in his evil 
influence co-existent with the Infinite God. 

192. The perversion of the Divine Love by 
man, in his own freedom turning it into evil, con- 
stitutes the Devilish Principle which actuates 
all evil spirits, who in their diabolical influences 



96 



1EE FACE OF JESUS: 



Origin of the Devil. 



The Selfhood of man. 



upon the spirit of man, are Devils, and collec- 
tively are called the Devil in the Word. The 
Love of Self is the opposite to the Love of the 
Lord, and from this evil love every species of 
wickedness originates, and he who loves him- 
self only, immerses all things of his will and 
understanding in his Self-hood, so that his 
thoughts cannot be elevated from his selfish 
love to the Heavenly Principles of the Word. 
He can see nothing from the Light of the 
Heavens which shines therein for the good 
man, but his light is from the natural world 
alone, which is darkness in respect to spiritual 
light. 

193. The more a man loves himself, the more 
he inwardly despises spiritual things, and de- 
nies them, and the door to the internal rational 
principle which is exercised by the light of 
spiritual truth, becomes closed so that he can- 
not be regenerated as long as he remains in the 
Love of Self as his ruling motive. Thus he 
becomes merely Natural, and loves evils of 
every kind : for the evil tendencies into which 
every man is hereditarily born, reside in the 
Natural Mind, and are only removed from him 
in proportion as his interior mind which re- 
ceives the Light of Heaven, is opened. The 
Self-hood of man resides in the Natural, or 
External mind, and is nothing but evil. The 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



97 



The Great Adversary. 



Divine influences never cease. 



Love of Self desires to rule over and destroy 
others, and thus becomes the Devil. This is 
the Ruling Spirit of the Dominion of Hell, the 
" Great Adversary" and Tempter which is to 
be conquered in man. 

194. Since the evils of men are devils, all 
devils revealed within the Spiritual World of 
the Word, refer to the unregenerated principles 
of the hereditary nature which are inwardly 
filled with hatred, revenge, and adultery, not- 
withstanding they may be concealed by a de- 
vout exterior. Consequently all the devils 
revealed by the Word exist in the perverted 
nature of man, in opposition to the principles 
of Heavenly Order, and to a devout rational 
mind there is a satisfactory conclusion that 
the Devil, or personification in name of all 
evil principles collectively, is not co-existent 
with the Infinite God, and is not a Personal 
Evil One, and therefore God is not the Author 
of evil, nor the Creator of the Devil. 

195. Although God creates the being of the 
evil man, and sustains his existence, He creates 
the faculty of attaining spiritual life with every 
individual, and sheds the heat and light of the 
Spiritual Sun as steadily upon evil men as upon 
those who open the door for its entrance, and 
He never will, even through Eternity, take 
away from man the power to open the door, 



98 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The love of the world. 



Love of friends. 



Ps. 103 : 17 
Ps. 89 : 2 
Jer. 18 : 3 
Jer. 18 : 6 



1 John 2 : 15 
1 John 2: 16 
Jas. 4 : 4 
1 John 2 : 17 
1 John 3 : 1 
Prov. 1 : 19 
Prov. 15 : 27 
1 John 3: 17 
Ezek. 22 ; 12 
Ezek. 22 : 13 
Matt. 16 : 26 
Rom. 1 : 29 
Luke 12 : 15 
Matt. 5 : 45 
Luke 6 : 32 
Luke 6 : 33 
1 John 2 ; 16 
Luke 6 : 34 
1 Tim 6 : 17 
1 Tim. 6 : 18 
1 Tim. 6 : 19 
Luke 6 : 31 

1 Cor. 13 : 4 

2 Tim. 2 : 22 

2 Cor. 4 : 2 

3 John 5 



and yet will never enter in opposition to his 
desire. Otherwise man would be a mere ma- 
chine in the hands of an arbitrary and fatalistic 
Deity. 

THE LOVE OF THE WORLD. 

196. The Love of the World is opposite to 
the Love of the Neighbor, and is derived from 
the Love of Self. This false principle exists 
in those whose thoughts are entirely occupied 
with the affairs of this world in the effort to 
gain possession of its wealth and power, with- 
out being concerned whether others are injured 
by the means employed, using art and ingenuity 
in order to secure to themselves the property 
of others, which if they cannot succeed in 
accomplishing, they are filled with envy and 
covetousness. 

197. It is not Love for the Neighbor for a 
person to love his wife, children, relatives and 
friends, because his own self-love and pride are 
wrapped up in these persons, but the Love of 
the Neighbor is represented by that principle 
in the Word, in which the light shines with 
brightness in this precept, " Bo unto others as 
ye would ham them do unto you" which is the 
Divine Law of charity in feeling, judgment, 
speech and deed. To love the neighbor is to 
desire the regeneration of every man, even 
strangers, and those who have tried to injure 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



99 



Living examples. 



Personification of Satan. 



us, and it implies that our lives shall be in 
harmony with this Law of Love which will 
make us serve as living examples to others. 

198. We are not to love a person as to his 
physical frame, but those principles which con- 
stitute his spiritual nature. We are to be use- 
ful to all, and faithful in the performance of the 
minutest duties which are presented for us to 
do, because the neglect of any duty, or the dis- 
honest execution of work of any kind, causes 
others to suffer, so that this law enters into 
everything that we do, and thus it forms the 
Corner Stone or Fundamental Truth of the 
Word. 

199. The neglect of this Divine Law of Love 
to the Neighbor, causes all the disorder and 
suffering in the universe, and this meek and 
humble Pace which everywhere looks yearn- 
ingly to man from the Word to arrest his 
attention as he reads, is that " visage so marred 
more than any man." 

200. The Love of the World nourishes every 
false doctrine which darkens the Light from 
the Word. Those men or spirits who are 
principled in this love are called Satan in the 
Word, which is the personification for all satans 
or false principles collectively. As satans are 
principled in falsity, instead of being wise they 
are insane in regard to spiritual truths, because 



100 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Spiritual insanity. 



God is no respecter of persorrs. 



1 John 1 : 6 
Matt. 16 : S 
Jer. 9 : 5 
Jer. 9 : 6 
1 John 1 : 5 

Ps. 32 : 2 
Ps. 32 : 7 
Ps. 37 : 28 
1 John 5 : 20 
1 John 3 : 2 
1 John 5 : 10 
1 John 4 : 20 
John 3 : 20 
1 John 4 : ft 

1 John 3 : 13 
Ps. 1 : 5 

2 Pet. 2 : 12 
2 Pet. 2 : 13 
2 Pet. 2 : 14 

Rom. 10 : 12 
Rom. 10 : 13 
Joel 2: 32 
John 5 : 40 
Matt. 10 : 14 

Gen. 6: 5 
Deut. 27 : 10 
Deut. 2 : 2 



Rom. 2 : 15 
Rom. 2 : 11 
Rom. 2 : 12 



not having them in their lives they cannot 
reason intelligently about them, although they 
possess the faculty of perceiving that Truth 
exists, they reject and despise it, loving " dark- 
ness rather than light." 

201. The regenerating man is principled in 
Love and Wisdom from the Word through the 
development of his Rational Faculty, and has 
Eternal Life and the True God, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, within him to make him a son of God, 
or a Divine man, while he who does not live 
according to the simple truths of the Word is 
principled in the Love of Self and the World, 
and his faculties are turned into hatred and 
insanity in regard to spiritual things, from 
which the result is Spiritual Death, and the 
destruction of every principle which can con- 
constitute him a man. 

202. The Lord created every man with the 
faculty of attaining that true manhood which 
constitutes Eternal Life in Heaven, but He 
cannot force upon any man a gift which he will 
not freely receive and make use of. While all 
men are born with a natural tendency to evil, 
there is also implanted within them the faculty 
for obedience to those laws which will save 
them from sin. Those who obey the Light or 
Truth which is given them, will be led to the 
clearer Light of the Word as it is in the Internal 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 101 



Clear Light of the Word. 



Application of the Word. 



Sense, and be saved from their sins by means 
of its Divine Truth working within them ; but 
those who will not open the door by resisting 
their evils, so that Infinite Love may enter and 
raise them from that condition of misery and 
despair which they are continually bringing 
upon themselves, will not desire to abide with 
those who are warmed and enlightened by the 
Sun of the Heavenly World. 

203. The longer a man delays attending to 
those principles of life which are Eternal, the 
closer will he shut the door and fasten himself 
out from that unchangeable Infinite Love which 
will forever seek to enter, but which his con- 
firmed spiritual insanity will oppose. 

204. The Lord "knoweth our frame. He 
remembereth that we are dust." He knows the 
hereditary evils and temptations with which 
we have to contend. He never judges or con- 
demns us, and in the Word He enjoins us not 
to judge others. Those who possess the Light 
which shines from the Word can apply it only 
to themselves, and see that it dwells richly in 
them, and then earnestly let their light so shine 
before men, that they may also see its spiritual 
life from its effect. 

205. It is a serious and momentous thought, 
that if we have not yet opened the door to the 
Everlasting Love of Him who gave us being 



Rom. 2 : 13 
Ps. 36: 12 
Luke 14: 33 
Rom. 2 : 8 
Rom. 2 : 9 
Rom. 2: 1 
Deut. 28 : 15 
Matt. 25 : 40 
Matt. 25 : 41 

Ps. 119 : 60 
Prov 7 : 24. 
Luke 13 : 25 
Luke 13 : 26 
Luke 13 : 27 
Luke 13 : 28 

Ps. 103 : 14 
Ps. 103 : 11 
James 5: 11 
Ps. 103 : 12 
Ps. 103 : 6 
Matt. 7 : 1 
Matt. 7 : 2 
Matt. 7 : 3 
Col. 3 : 16 
Matt. 5 : 16 
Phillip. 2 : 15 
Is. 60: 5 

Deut. 32 : 29 
Lam. 5 : 21 
1 John 4: 10 



102 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Subjective application. 



Eternal Punishment. 



John 6 : 54 



Jolin 17 : 3 



that we might have Eternal joy in the true 
exercise of our yet undeveloped faculties, — 
there is danger that we may not desire to 
overcome the Love of Self and the World. 
With His help, who is the Living Word, we 
may attain that Eternal Life which is salvation 
from sin, but the only time given to man to 
" repent and believe " is the ever present Now. 

206. All the spiritual principles contained 
within the form of the Literal Sense of the 
Word are subjective, and are to be personally 
received by the regenerating man ; they are not 
to be objectively applied, either to other persons 
or to apparent physical events. All the goods 
and truths which are held in the Literal Sense, 
are to have their culmination in his regenera- 
tion, and all the evils and falses there portrayed, 
are representative of his own sinfulness, and 
are to be rejected and cast out, so that the 
regenerating principles of the Word may enter 
and supplant them. As his evils are resisted, 
overcome, and removed, he ascends from hell 
toward Heaven, for the state of heaven or hell 
exists in the Spiritual World of the mind of man, 
and neither state is a material place to which 
mankind are destined. The appropriation of 
the Divine principles of the Word into the 
thoughts and affections, thus governing the 
entire life, constitutes a state of Eternal Life or 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 103 



Everlasting punishment. 



Objective illustrations. 



Heaven within the regenerating man, while all 
the evil and false principles which are being 
removed, and have been overcome in the order 
of his regeneration, which can never be separ- 
ated from his individuality, are in a state of 
spiritual death, which is also eternal, for hell 
cannot exist with Heaven, and this constitutes 
the Everlasting Punishment of the wicked. By 
the " wicked " are meant subjectively all the 
evil and false principles which exist in the 
perverted hereditary nature of the regenerating 
man, which are opposed to the heavenly 
principles of the Word. 

As all evil is death, and punishes itself, this 
is the Eternal Death of which the Word treats, 
and which can never enter Eternal Life. When 
a regenerating man sees the manifestation of 
wickedness in the lives of others, he at once 
recognizes an objective illustration of his own 
evil nature, and in humility he inwardly 
acknowledges his transgressions, and does not 
exalt himself above others, nor judge them, but 
in those wicked lives he beholds a representative 
state of his own evils, which is the hell from 
which he is being saved. 



1 John 5 : 12 
Mark 9 : 43 
Ma r k 9 : 45 
Mark 9 : 47 

Mark 9 : 48 

2 Thess. 1 : 9 
Ps. 9 : 17 
Ps. 55 : 15 
Is. 14 : 15 
Ps. 37 : 20 
Matt. 25 : 41 

Rev. 20 : 14 
Ps. 92 : 7 
John 3 : 36 
Ps. 37 : 35 
Ps. 37 : 1 
Prov. 24 : 17 
Ps. 37 : 9 
Ps. 51 : 3 
Rom, 14: 10 

Matt. 13: 51 
Ps. 49 ; 15 



104 THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Degrees of altitude and latitude. Successive states. 



THE FORM AND STYLE OF THE LITERAL SENSE OF 

THE WORD. 

207. The order in which the spiritual principles of the Word 
descend into the plane of the Literal Sense is represented in 
historical form. Principles which precede, or which are prior, 
are first treated of in the order of discrete degrees, or degrees of 
altitude, for in the Internal Sense, all things which precede, 
signify higher, or interior principles, and those which succeed, 
signify lower, or more exterior principles. Thus the Adamic 
epoch, sometimes called the Golden Age, is not to be thought of 
as a period of the remote past, but it signifies a state vivified by 
the Celestial principles of the Word, as the order of spiritual 
descent is from the Celestial to the Spiritual degree, and from the 
Spiritual to the Natural degree, which three degrees are con- 
tained within the Literal Sense of the Word. These three de- 
grees, consisting of interior principles, are sometimes termed the 
Three Heavens into which the mind of a regenerating man is 
elevated, who, in the order of his spiritual growth, begins with 
the most exterior principles which lie within the plane surface of 
the Literal Sense of the Word, as degrees of latitude. 

208. In historical appearance, the Noatic or Silver Age seems 
to have been a successive epoch after the Golden Age, succeeded 
by the Israelitish or Brazen Age, but the regenerating man whose 
mind is open to perceive the Internal Sense of the Word, gives 
no thought to the appearance of physical events, but abstracts 
the coherent spiritual meaning from the historical connection of 
the words which contain these spiritual truths. The Golden Age 
is a present state of spiritual growth attained by a regenerating 
man whose will is actuated by a principle of love, as gold in the 
Word corresponds to Celestial principles ; so the Silver Age 
is a present state of a regenerating man whose understanding 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 105 



Column of degrees. 



External evidence. 



is enlightened by Spiritual Truth from the Word, and the Brazen 
Age is the state of a regenerating man who is living in the Truths 
of the Literal or Natural Sense of the Word, before his Rational 
Faculty has been opened to receive its Spiritual and Celestial 
principles. These spiritual principles descend from the Highest, 
or Inmost degree, through the Intermediate or Interior degree, to 
the Lowest or Exterior degree where they meet the mind of man 
in the Natural degree of thought as recorded in the Literal Sense. 
From obedience to the truths of this sense the order of his re- 
generation is upward from the Brazen, through the Silver, to the 
Golden Age, as illustrated by the column of degrees of gold, silver, 
and brass (§180). and the Golden Age is the Third Heaven to 
which the mind of the regenerating man is elevated, for the Three 
Heavens exist in the mind of one man who is vivified by the 
Celestial principles of the Word. 

209. The Word, in some form, has existed in all past time. 
When the Old Testament Record was given to man, and through 
what persons, there is no external history to give authentic proof 
outside of the Word itself. Added to this is the Word of the New 
Testament in the Books called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
ending with the prophecy of the Revelation. 

It is not known who wrote the Gospels, and the subject of the 
authorship of all the Books of the Word will always be a matter 
of conjecture. The custom of using the date Anno Domini was 
not established until six centuries after the supposed Advent of 
the Gospel History, which may be ascertained by investigating 
the subject of Chronology in any reliable encyclopaedia, without 
further comment. 

Unsatisfactory as will be the result of this investigation, the 
external evidence of the superiority of the Word compared with 
other books, is in its having been so reverently guarded through 
successive generations, and by the general impression of its sacred 
character, resulting from a Divine inflowing into the External 
mind that it is a Book of Supernatural Origin. The strongest 



106 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Essence and Life of the Word. Jehovah God. 



external proof that it is from a Spiritual Source, is to be found in 
the witness of the lives of those who love and obey its Truths. 

210. The Divine Truth is the Word which was " in the begin- 
ning," and which "was God"; not regarded as to the words and 
letters of the languages in which it was written, but as seen in its 
Essence and Life which is from within, in the meanings of its 
words and letters. From this Life within, the Word vivifies the 
Affections of the Will of the man who reads it devoutly ; and 
from the Light of its Interior Meaning, it enlightens the Thoughts 
of his Understanding. 

This constitutes the Word, because it is from the Lord, and 
speaks concerning the Lord, and is the Lord alone, as the rayspf 
heat and light from the physical sun are called the sun, in common 
speech. No one, however, feels and perceives the Divine Life of 
the Word, the Lord Jesus, but the man who is in the spiritual 
affection for truth when he reads it, for he is then in conjunction 
with the Lord through the Word; there being something inti- 
mately affecting the heart and spirit, or the affection and thought, 
which flows with light into the Understanding, and bears witness 
of the Divine Truth. 

211. In the Word of the Old Testament, the words Jehovah 
God frequently occur together, and also separately, as Jehovah 
and sometimes God. Jehovah, or J esus, signifies the Lord as to 
Divine Love or Goodness, and God, or Christ, signifies the Lord 
as to Divine Wisdom or Truth. Both terms, Jehovah God, or 
Jesus Christ, are used for the sake of the Heavenly Marriage, or 
harmonious conjunction of the Will and Understanding, which is 
to be effected by the regenerating principles of the Word which in 
all its particulars has reference to the marriage of Love and 
Wisdom in the mind and life of man. 

The words Jehovah God are not used in the Literal Sense of 
the New Testament, but He is called the Lord Jesus Christ, 
through which name he is seen as the Divine Man from whom the 
two principles of Love and Wisdom exist, which form the Word, 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



107 



Descent of Divine Truth. The First Advent. 



212. The Lord has descended as Divine Truth in the Word, and 
thus reaches the mind of man, by being adapted to his natural 
thoughts in its Literal Sense. No other principle than the Divine 
Truth, or the Word, is meant by the " Messiah," or " Christ," or 
the " Son of Man," or the " Son of God." 

The Divine Humanity of the Lord, is the Word within the life 
of a regenerating man. The Humanity is the Literal Sense of the 
Word which is made Divine when a man is created spiritual by 
its Truths, for the Lord first introduces man into the truths of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, which is His Human Principle, and as 
these truths are united to good, or made alive by obedience, the 
Internal Sense of the Word is revealed, and becomes the Divine 
Humanity in the life of the regenerating man. By the union of 
the Literal and Internal Sense, or of the External mind with the 
Internal, by love and obedience to the Word, the mind is led from 
Natural to Spiritual and Celestial principles, and this is the Glori- 
fication of the Divine Humanity, the Word made Divine in the 
life of the man who obeys and loves its Precepts. 

213. Thus by means of the Literal Sense of the Word in which 
He assumes the Human Principle, the Lord is born on the earth, 
or within the External mind of regenerating men, in order that 
they may be saved from their sins, by teaching them the principles 
of Heavenly Life, how they should live and believe, and thus 
attain Eternal Happiness. 

As the First Advent of the Lord into the spiritual history of 
mankind during successive epochs, is the giving of the Literal 
Sense of the Word to the world, so the Second Coming, prophesied 
in the Literal Sense, is the unfolding of the Internal Sense to the 
minds of all who perceive its Interior Truths by living according 
to its Precepts. 

THE NATURAL DEGREE. 

214. The first thoughts of man concerning the Word rest in the 
Appearance of Truth according to which it is written, and the 
prevailing opinions of the religious world are based upon natural 



108 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Era of darkness. Communication between Heaven and " earth. " 



thought concerning the Word as it is in the Literal Sense. When 
no internal principle is acknowledged within the Word, dogmas 
are formed and confirmed from the Literal Sense, derived from 
the Love of Dominion over the minds of men, which obscure the 
simple Doctrines of Life, and enshroud the Rational Faculty with 
darkness. 

This cloud prevents the mind from perceiving that the Word 
contains an Internal Sense which alone constitutes its Divinity ; 
for in the place of the simple Commandments of Life which are to 
be obeyed, doctrines have been earnestly promulgated that a man 
is to be saved by a mental act of faith without the effort to keep 
the Commandments, and thus the Living Precepts have been set 
aside and " darkness " has covered the " earth." 

This era of darkness undergoes its consummation, or Last 
Judgment, when the Lord again comes into the world by opening 
the mind to perceive the Internal Sense of the Word from which 
the Literal Sense receives its origin and life, and the knowledge 
of the Eternal existence of this Divine Principle will gradually 
spread over and enter within the " earth " or External mind of 
those who are prepared to see the morning rays dawn from the 
mountains of the East. 

215. The Word, which has been reverently preserved for our 
use for many thousands of years, is entirely written by represen- 
tatives and significatives, so that it may hold the Internal Sense 
which is understood in Heaven, or the Internal mind of a regene- 
rating man, when abstracted from the Literal Sense, and thus a 
communication may be effected with the natural mind, and the 
Lord's Kingdom in the Heavens may be united with the Lord's 
Kingdom on the earth ; and unless these representatives or ex- 
pressions by which the Word is written, contained principles con- 
cerning the Incarnation of the Lord in the regenerating man, the 
Literal Sense of the Word would not be from a Divine origin. 

In order to contain this coherent spiritual principle within the 
Literal Sense, the Word could have been written in no other style, 
for it would noc have been possible for the ideas and expressions 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 109 



Doctrinal instruction. Study of the Word, 



of its external form to correspond with Celestial and Spiritual 
principles, and without this Internal Living Principle, the Word 
would be a dead letter, but it is vivified in the reader by the Lord, 
according to the nature and capacity of each individual, and thus 
the Lord lives in the regenerating man according to the state of 
his Love and Faith derived from the Word. 

THE SILVER AGE, OR THE SPIRITUAL DEGREE. 

216. The minds of those who are in the Spiritual Degree of 
regeneration are formed by doctrinal instruction in the Understand- 
ing, and not by immediate perception. The nature of this intel- 
lectual principle is, that Truths must be learned from the Word 
and retained in the memory by believing them to be true, and it 
is of such a quality, that should the doctrines be simply truths in 
appearance and not spiritually true, the mind is first impressed as 
though they were the truth, and the discrimination between Truth 
and its Appearance must be discerned by means of the Rational 
Faculty in order to discover what is True. 

Thus Conscience is given to those who are living in this degree, 
which will be succeeded by the Perception which is possessed by 
those who have attained the Celestial Degree. 

In the Celestial man, the Perception of Good in the Will is the 
ruling principle, which includes the co-operation of the Under- 
standing, but in the Spiritual man, the Understanding of Truth is 
the governing principle, and the Rational mind examines the na- 
ture of doctrinal instruction from the Word to see if it be True r 
and then from obedience is led to love the Truth, and from this 
to love the Lord and the Neighbour. 

217. The importance of studying the Word of God must con- 
tinually be more apparent to the mature mind who has begun to 
walk in the paths of the regenerate life. The Internal Sense of 
the Word will not flow into the Understanding without effort on 
the part of man, and the Truths which are concealed within the 
Literal Sense, must be sought out from the " earth " of the Word,. 



110 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Hidden treasures. Love for righteousness. 

just as the hidden treasure of gold and silver must be dug from 
the soil and rocks of the physical earth. These Truths are the 
riches which do not take to themselves wings and fly away, but 
they make the possessor rich with a wealth which he will carry 
with him and use in his spiritual growth. This wealth does not 
come to any man by the laws of earthly inheritance without his 
own effort, neither can he part with it by bestowing it upon 
others who are not prepared to receive it, but its nature is such 
that the more he seeks to communicate the secret of its produc- 
tion, by manifesting its quality in his external life so that others 
may see and be led to find the source of his riches, the more the 
Lord will fill him with the true and enduring wealth. 

218. These spiritual riches do not come to any man who prays 
from morning until night for a Kevelation from Heaven, and who 
hangs down his hands and his understanding, awaiting a blessing 
to be abundantly poured out more than he can think or ask, but 
he must go to work and search diligently with the means placed 
in his hands, which will always be provided for those who are 
willing and industrious, for "the willing and obedient shall in- 
herit the land." They shall possess the Good and Truth of the 
Word, which in their lives will be Love to the Lord and Neigh- 
bor. 

The Lord gives to every intelligent man the faculty of perceiv- 
ing the nature of the Word, and yet no person does perceive it 
unless he desires, as from himself, to see its Internal quality. It 
cannot be forced upon any man by sectarian or dogmatic assertion. 
All the Good that a man does, and all the Truth that he acquires, 
seem to originate from his own exertions, just the same as he 
feeds his physical body, when the substances which he eats, and 
the sustaining of life by the nourishment derived from the food, 
are from the Lord alone. 

THE GOLDEN AGE, OK THE CELESTIAL DEGREE. 

219. The Celestial principles of the Word will be revealed to all 
who from affection for righteousness obey the Truth which en- 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



Ill 



Heavenly men. Open communication with Heaven. 

lightens their minds. The internal quality of their lives is such 
that they then have a clear perception of the principles of the 
Divine Love and Wisdom, the Lord J esus Christ, who has al- 
ways been the same from eternity, and who is now perceived in 
the Human Form, or Human Principle of the Word which is in- 
scribed on their hearts, or within their minds. They are Celes- 
tial or Heavenly men, and have immediate revelation from the 
Lord by conjunction with the angels and spirits of the Word, by 
whom they are taught these Heavenly Principles. They possess 
an internal perception of the principles of the Word, abstracted 
from the personifications there recorded, and the Celestial and 
Spiritual principles of the Word are the Angels and Spirits by 
means of which they have conjunction with the Lord. Thus 
they have open communication with Heaven and with Angels 
and Spirits by means of the Literal Sense of the Word, for this 
open communication is the revelation to the natural mind of the 
Heavenly principles within the Word to those whose 
lives are being regenerated and vivified by its Truths. Con- 
junction with these Divine principles of the Word constitutes 
Heaven, for Heaven is in the Internal Sense of the Word, and the 
natural thought of man is in the Literal Sense, wherefore the 
conjunction of Heaven with the natural world of thought is by 
means of the Literal Sense of the Word and its Interior principles. 

220. As their whole lives are governed by principles of internal 
worship, they do not require the representative rites and cere- 
monies which prevail with those who are in natural thought con- 
cerning the Word, because they enjoy open communication with, 
or perception of its Celestial and Spiritual principles. Although 
they are vividly sensible of the external objects relating to their 
physical bodies and the world of nature, they are not absorbed 
with them, because by means of the science of correspondence, 
they perceive the spiritual principles represented by all these 
things. 



112 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Perception of spiritual principles. External style of the Word. 

Thus when looking upon a high mountain, the thought of its 
being a mountain does not impress them, but they perceive the 
high or interior heavenly principle represented, and thus their 
minds are led to Heaven and the Lord. From this circumstance 
it is written in the Word that the Lord "dwells on high," * and 
that He is called the " Highest," f and " Exalted." J 

When they awake in the morning, their minds do not rest in 
the appearance of the rising sun, but as the dawn of more wisdom 
from the Lord. Hence the Lord is called the " Morning," § the 
" East," 1 1 and the " Day Spring from on high." IT Also when they 
behold trees, with the fruit and leaves, they do not think of them 
as physical objects, but perceive the living principle of the mind 
represented thereby, the "fruit" denoting love and charity, and 
the "leaves" representing faith. Thus trees are in many places in 
the Word spoken of as representative of regenerating men, and 
do not mean trees in the physical world. "For ye shall go out 
ivithjoy, and be led forth iviih peace; the mountains and the hills 
shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the 
field shall clap their hands.' 9 

THE STYLE OF THE LITERAL SENSE. 

221. The Literal Sense of the Word is written in several different 
styles. The First Style is illustrative of Celestial and Spiritual 
principles by representative language, as related in the account of 
the Creation, the Garden of Eden, the Fall, the Deluge, etc. 

The Second Style is that of Spiritual History illustrating the 
successive steps of regeneration, or making the human nature 
Divine by means of the Word. This style begins with Abram 
and continues through the Pentateuch, and afterwards in the 
Books called Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, and the four Gospels 



* Ps. cxiii. 5. t Luke vi. 35. X Is. xii. 14. 
§ Ezek. vii. 7. H Ezek. xliii. 2. «1T Luke i. 78. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



113 



The Prophetical style. Correspondential writing. 

of the Evangelists, in which the facts of spiritual history actually 
take place within the regenerating man in the order in which they 
are related in the Literal Sense, and when the Internal Sense is 
revealed, the spiritual facts are altogether different from the 
earthly appearances in which the mind first rests. 

222. A Third Style is the Prophetical, which is not connected 
in the Literal Sense, and is not historical in appearance excepting 
in the Book called Daniel, but is broken and interrupted, being 
scarcely ever intelligible excepting in the Internal Sense, in which 
the heavenly principles succeed each other in a beautiful and 
orderly connection, and relate to the Internal and External mind 
in the various states of regeneration, treating of the Interior 
principles of Heavenly Life, and in their Inmost Principles they 
relate to the Lord. This Internal Sense of the Word is perceived 
by angelic men who derive their spiritual food from this Fountain, 
abstracted from the idea of the worldly things which the Literal 
Sense conveys to the natural mind, and they do not have an idea 
of persons, objects or places, but of the spiritual principles which 
these words convey. In this Style all the prophetical books of 
the Old Testament, and the Revelation in the New Testament, 
are written. 

Another Style is that of the Psalms, which is intermediate 
between the Prophetical Style and that of common speech, where 
the Lord is treated of in the regenerating man in the represen- 
tation of David as a King. 

The Book of Job consists of writings handed down from ancient 
times, containing apparent history, full of correspondences, ac- 
cording to the mode of writing at that time, and is a book of 
great excellence and usefulness in the illustration of spiritual cor- 
respondence with natural objects. The Book of Proverbs and 
Ecclesiastes are replete with illustrations of the law of Love to 

the Neighbor and the opposite principle, while the Canticles, or 

H 



114 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Epistles. Doctrinal writings. 

Song of Solomon, consists of correspondential language significa- 
tive of spiritual principles concerning the marriage, or conjunction 
of Good and Truth in man. 

223. The Epistles are filled with quotations from the Word, 
and everywhere teach the truths of Love to the Neighbor as set 
forth in the Gospels, and they are " profitable for doctrine, for re- 
proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness : that the 
man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good 
works "* They consist of doctrinal writings which are given to 
the religious world in order that the Literal Sense may be more 
clearly and intimately understood and applied to the life, in pre- 
paration for the opening of the Internal Sense of the Word when 
it is revealed. The Doctrine of Life, of Charity and Brotherly 
Love, is clearly revealed in the Epistles in more minute particu- 
lars than elsewhere in the Literal Sense, and they are all cor- 
respondential in their interpretation, especially in all the quota- 
tions from the preceding Word which constitutes their foundation. 

The Style of the Word consists altogether of correspondences, 
whereby it is effective of Immediate communication with Heaven ; 
but doctrinal writings are teachings explanatory of the Word in 
a different style, which also have communication with Heaven, but 
Mediately, because adapted to a more exterior plane of thought, 
from which the mind is led to perceive the Interior Principles of 
the Word when the Internal Sense is revealed. 

224. The thoughtful reader having been gradually led to per- 
ceive the nature of the Literal Sense of the Word, its Sacred 
Pages will now be opened at the Book of Genesis for a glimpse 
of some of its Internal Principles as applied to the mind of a re- 
generating man, and to prove its Spiritual Coherence. After the 
principles of the First Day of Creation have been illustrated, 
parallel descriptions of the same principles will also be briefly 



* 2 Tim. iii. 16. 17. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



115 



The Literal Word exists from its Internal principle. 

givi.u from the Gospel History of the Advent, to demonstrate the 
Divinity of the Word as it is applied to the elevation of the 
nature of man to higher planes of thought than can be found in 
the perishing things of this world, bearing continually in mind 
that the Literal Sense exists from the Internal Sense which gives 
it life. 

The many different verses of Scripture which may be found from the marginal refer- 
ences on the preceding pages, are illustrative of the Spiritual Principles which are re- 
ferred to within their adjoining paragraphs, and the same principles will be illustrated 
fnom the references in the succeeding pages, by the laws of correspondence, and 
if the reader sincerely desires, from love and obedience to the truths of the Word, his 
mind will be illuminated to clearly perceive that the Word treats of more important 
things than transitory earthly affairs, and that the same words throughout the Scrip- 
tures convey the same corresponding Spiritual Principles, whether occurring in the 
Old or New Testament. 



116 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Scientific facts. 



Spiritual Principles, 



THE 



FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 



225. The Scientist, on reading the First 
Chapter of Genesis, observes that it does not 
agree with determined scientific discovery, and 
from a natural or literal point of view, unhesi- 
tatingly declares that it is not true ; for he 
reads that light is created, and that the earth 
was productive of grass, herbs, and trees yield- 
ing fruit, before the sun was created, when 
science proves that all natural life in the vege- 
table kingdom exists by means of the fructify- 
ing influence of the natural sun. He knows 
that this Literal statement cannot be reconciled 
with physical science, for all the truths of 
natural science and life, are the revelation of 
natural principles which exist from spiritual 
causes, but he is not yet aware that the Word 
of God reveals spiritual principles only, and 
that the first verse of the Word refers to the 
" Beginning" of spiritual life in the man who 
is to be regenerated. In order to illustrate the 
coherence of the Internal Sense of the Word 
of God, a simple outline will be given of the 
meaning of the Six Days of Creation as applied 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD, 



117 



Heaven and Earth. 



Sensual perception. 



to the order of regeneration with men in general, 
observing the many spiritual principles which 
the Word will reveal. 

In the beginning God created the Heaven and 
. the Earth. 

226. Abstracting the mind from the physical 
frame when thinking of man, by " Heaven " in 
this verse is signified the Internal mind, and 
by " Earth " is meant the External mind, or 
the internal and external principles of the 
mind of the man who is in a state of reforma- 
tion from evil, frequently termed repentance. 
Principles which are Above natural things are 
called Internal, while those which are natural 
and sensual, are Below, toward the earth. 
Thus, a man's head represents high, interior 
or celestial principles, because therein is located 
the brain, the organ of affection and thought ; 
while the feet which rest upon the surface of 
the earth represent the Natural or Sensual 
principle, which is the most external of the 
mind, it being in the circumference of the 
spiritual circle of Affection and Thought. By 
the Sensual principle is not meant the lust 
of the bodily appetites, but that perception of 
the External mind which exists through the 
external senses, which is lowest in the mind. 
Spiritual life originates with the Lord by means 



118 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Progressive qualities of mind. 



Insanity of Self-intelligence. 



of the Truths from Him in the Word which 
was in the "Beginning" with God. The word 
"Earth" also signifies the Literal Sense of the 
Word which is received by the External mind. 

STATES. 

227. All hours, days, weeks, months and years, in 
the Word, have reference to the quality or nature of 
the Affections and Thoughts in their progressive or 
successive degrees of regeneration, and the word state 
is used in the Internal Sense to express this mental 
condition. State is predicated of love, of life, of wis- 
dom, of the affections and the joys thence derived ; in 
general of Good and Truth. Degrees of time and 
distance of space are used in the Word to represent 
State, but the mind in perceiving the spiritual mean- 
ing must be abstracted from the Literal Sense. 

228. There are Two States of a man's life, the- 
External and the Internal. When he is in the Ex- 
ternal state, he speaks and acts rationally and wisely, 
like any intelligent man in the world, and he can 
teach others many things concerning moral and civil 
life. When a man's Internal state is awakened to 
reflection, if he is in the Love of Self, instead of be- 
coming Rational, he becomes Sensual, and instead of 
becoming wise, he becomes insane in regard to spiritual 
things : for he thinks then from the evil of his will 
and its delight, and therefore from self-derived intelli- 
gence. But with those who permit themselves to be- 
regenerated, when they are let into an internal state 
from an external, they increase in the knowledge of 
spiritual principles and love them. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 119 



The First State. 



Reformation. 



229. No man can enter the kingdom of God except 
he is " born again," for unless he is made a spiritual 
man in opposition to the natural evils into which he 
was born, and becomes filled with holy principles, the 
Kingdom of Heaven cannot reign within him, for to 
be " born again " is to be regenerated, or made spiritual. 

230. There are Three States pertaining to regener- 
ation. The First State is the absence of spiritual 
life, — the Natural state, — which is the Death from 
which Resurrection is to take place. In this state he 
is born with the Love of Self and the World pre- 
dominant. The delights of these loves lead him and 
prevent him from knowing that he is in evils and 
falses, because every man is delighted with whatever 
he loves, whether it is good or evil. 

231. The Second State of the man is that of 
Reformation, and begins to exist when he thinks of 
Immortal life and Heaven, from the joy which he 
hopes to experience, and thus he is led to think of 
God, from whom the joy of Heaven is derived. At 
first he thinks of the delight of the Love of Self which 
is commingled with his thoughts of Heaven, and while 
the delight of this love reigns, together with the evils 
flowing from it, he cannot understand otherwise but 
that the Way to Heaven is to make many prayers ? 
listen to sermons, partake of the Holy Supper, giving 
money to the poor, helping the needy, and giving of 
his possessions for the building of religious or chari- 
table edifices, all of which acts, although highly com- 
mendable, are in themselves external, and may be 
prompted by no inward spiritual motive. 

232. In this State of Reformation, which is gener- 
ally called Repentance, it is permitted that a man shall 



1 Cor. 6 ; 9 
John 3 : 4 
John 3 : 8 
Is. 43 : 19 
Ezek. 18 : 30 
John 3 : 18 
Matt. 18: 3 
Matt. 13 : 11 
Eph. 2 : 2 
Eph. 2 : 3 
Eph. 2 : 4-6 
Eph. 2 : 12 
Rom. 3 : 12 
Eph. 4 : 18 
Rom. 12 : 2 
Rom. 1 : 32 
Rom. 6 : 12 
Matt. 19 : 16 
Rom. 2 : 6 
Rom. 2 : 7 
Mark 10 : 30 
Rom. 14 : 17 
Mark 10 : 37 
Matt. 19 : 27 

1 Thess. 5 : 
17 

Acts. 2 : 42 
Acts 10 : 4 
Matt. 19 : 21 
Matt. 19 : 28 
Matt. 19 : 29 
John 4 : 7 
Matt. 3 : 8 
Jer. 11 : 23 



120 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The " schoolmaster.' 



Deeds of the Law. 



think that he is able to resist evil in his own strength, 
so that he will not be forced into a religious life against 
his own will, although the Lord is gently moving upon 
his internal nature. At first he does not inwardly be- 
lieve that the Lord is reforming him, neither does he 
believe that every Good and True thought is infused 
into his mind, and the Lord permits this Appearance 
of Truth to exist in his mind so that he will use effort 
with the strength given him, to overcome evil, and not 
passively await some special outpouring of Divine 
Power. By exerting what seems to be his own 
strength, he will in due season be led to recognize his 
utter helplessness, and call upon the Lord for aid, and 
the law which he is endeavouring to fulfil in his own 
strength is the " schoolmaster " which will lead him to 
the Word. 

233. In the Epistles, this state of self-righteousness 
is indicated by the " works " or " deeds of the law by 
which no flesh shall be justified." The seventh 
chapter of Romans treats of this state of reformation, 
and illustrates the mental conflict and despair which 
results in the exclamation, " 0 wretched man that I am! 
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" 
In due time he is led to think and perceive that there 
is such a thing as sin, which has its origin in his own 
nature, and this state becomes progressive when he 
examines his motives to see if their tendency in all his 
acts is toward evil, and when he recognizes this incli- 
nation, exerts his will against the evil so that it shall 
not be carried into act. 

234. The Third State which is the Beginning of 
Regeneration, progresses from the previous state, and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



121 



Redemption, 



The spiritual marriage. 



begins when, with the acknowledgement of the need 
of Divine help, a man desists from and strives against 
the evils which he sees within himself, and which will 
be overcome if he persists in the combat. In this 
order, regeneration proceeds until from a Natural state 
of mind he is made a Spiritual man by means of the 
Word, and thus he is redeemed from sin. By con- 
tinually struggling against the evil he naturally loves, 
it becomes repulsive to him, and when he hates it, it 
will be overcome, and this will be a continual work 
during his earthly life, if he attains the limit of the 
years of mankind. This work must be consummated on 
the earth, before he can enter the abode, or state of 
Heaven. 

235. With the consciousness that all the power is 
derived from the Lord, he grows less self-righteous in 
his progression as he perceives that he has no inherent 
good principle within himself. A man is made spiritual 
only in proportion as he knows Truths from the Word 
and obeys them in his Will, because every man who 
attains spiritual life is thus regenerated. By means of 
the Truths from the Word, he knows the life he ought 
to lead, and by living according to them, he performs 
them, or causes them to govern his external life by in- 
ternally determining to do them. He thus conjoins 
Goodness in the will, to Truth in the understanding, 
and this is the Spiritual Marriage which constitutes 
the Kingdom of Heaven within the regenerating man. 
Thus, to Know and Will the Truths of the Word, is 
Loving the Loud, and making them manifest in the 
external life, is Loving the Neighboe. 



Is. 33 : 13 
Is, 1 : 16 
Jer. 3 : 13 
Rom. 12 : 21 
Rom. 6 : 13 
Eph. 5 : 19 
Eph. 5 : 20 
Gal. 6 : 4 
Gal, 3 : 13 
Gal. 5 : 24 
Gal. 6 : 9 
Prov. 8: 13 
Luke 1 : 71 
Eph. 6 : 13 
Eph. 6 : 14 
Eph. 6 : 15 
Ps. 91 : 14 
Luke 23 : 42 
Ps. 102 : 24 

1 Tim 1 : 17 
Deut. 8 : 18 
Ps. 66 : 7 
Ps. 53 : 1 
Ps. 89 : 16 
Deut. 4 : 40 
Ps. 59 : 26. 
Ps.89 : 28 
John 13 : 17 
Ps. 62 : 12 
John 13 : 15 
Ps. 34 : 14 
Gen. 17 : 2 
Gen. 17 : 7 
Matt, 25 ; 10 
Jer. 3 : 14 
1 John 5 : 3 
John 13 : 34 
John 13 : 35 



122 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The earth without form. 



Infancy in regeneration. 



THE FIRST DAY OF CREATION; 

OR, 

THE FIRST STATE OF REGENERATION. 



" And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; in that dap shall 
there be one Lord, and Sis Name shall be One.'''' 

" And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of His 
Kingdom there shall be no end. 

And the earth was without form, and void ; and 
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And 
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
waters. 

236. The First State of regeneration includes 
the state which has just been described and 
which is included in the " Beginning " when 
" God created the heaven and the earth." It 
includes the state of infancy in spiritual things, 
during which the mind is instructed in the 
simple Truths of the Word, and the duties 
which must be performed in obeying these 
Truths. Before these seeds of Truth from the 
Word are sown or implanted in the " earth," 
or the External mind, by means of instruction 
from parents or teachers, or from personal 
reading, — or before a man makes these Truths 
the rule of his life, — his conception of spiritual 
principles are " without form," for it has been 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



123 



No spiritual ground. 



Emptiness and darkness. 



illustrated that the form of the Human Prin- 
ciple in man is the conjunction of Good and 
Truth in the will and understanding and thence 
in the life. 

237. As there is no conjunction of these two 
Living Principles in the " earth" of the unre- 
generated man, no spiritual seed has found 
root, and consequently this " earth " is " void." 
This State is meant by the words " The Son of 
Man hath not where to lay his head" by which 
is signified that the Divine Truth of the Literal 
Sense is not implanted in the External mind. 
The " head " signifying what is superior or 
interior, by which inferior things are governed, 
as the whole body is ruled by the head, inferior 
things being external, and thus the " earth" or 
External mind when "void" has no resting 
place for the Internal Principles of Heavenly 
Life. 

238. From this state of emptiness there 
exists " darkness," or a dulness of perception 
and ignorance concerning all things which have 
relation to faith in the Lord, such as the Doc- 
trine of Life from the Commandments, and 
the true spiritual nature of the Word. This 
"darkness" is "upon the face of the deep." 
Throughout the Word, things which are superior 
or high, signify Interior principles, and things 
which are low and inferior, signify Exterior 



124 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The face of the deep. 



The pit. 



principles ; thus, upward or Height, and down- 
ward or Depth, signify their respective prin- 
ciples in relation to the mind of man. 

239. Since Heaven is the antipode of Hell, 
and the principle of Love to the Lord is oppo- 
site to the Love of Self, so the " deep " here 
mentioned, refers to the evil and false principles 
which govern the unregenerated mind which 
the " darkness " covers, for there is no spiritual 
light or Living Truth in this " deep." The 
" face" denotes the state of the Affections and 
Thoughts, because the face of man is a repre- 
sentative external likeness of the qualities of 
the mind which animate its expression ; there- 
fore the " face of the deep " signifies the lusts 
or evil desires of the unregenerated man, and 
the false principles thence originating, in which 
his life and thoughts are entirely immersed, 
because these evils and falsities obscure all the 
rays of spiritual light. In many places in the 
Word such persons or principles are called 
"depths," the " great deep," or the "pit." 

240. When the unregenerate man becomes 
conscious of his spiritual condition, and has the 
faintest desire to turn from evil principles, then 
the Spirit of God " moves upon the face of the 
waters." This is the Divine Mercy of the Lord 
which has constantly sought entrance to the 
mind, and as soon as man in his freedom makes 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



125 



The waters in motion. 



The face of the waters. 



" moves " 



the least effort to open the door, He 
or sheds His rays of warmth and light into the 
coldness and darkness of the natural mind to 
make known the Love and Wisdom which 
created him for Heaven. This " moving " is 
also compared to brooding, as a hen broods 
over her eggs and causes them to hatch into 
life. 

241. Water, throughout the Word, signifies 
Truth. All earthly objects which are used to 
signify spiritual principles, possess certain 
qualities which serve for spiritual illustration. 
Water nourishes the physical life as Truth from 
the Word sustains the spiritual life. Water 
cleanses from impurity as Truth, or a life 
according to the Truth, cleanses from sin. In 
order to cleanse, water must be put in motion, 
and so Truths or knowledges from the Word 
must be moved upon by effort on the part of 
man who is actuated by the Spirit of God. 

242. The "face of the waters" signifies the 
quality of the Affections and Thoughts in re- 
gard to the knowledges of Good and Truth 
from the Word, which during the past years 
from ' childhood have been stored up in the 
memory by the Lord in readiness to be brought 
forth into the understanding and life, when the 
Spirit of God moves upon these Truths or 
knowledges signified by the " waters." 



126 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The education of children. 



A V 



243. This fact illustrates the importance of 
attending to the thorough study of the Literal 
Sense of the Word in early years, especially in 
the religious education of children. In teach- 
ing and learning the Word, those most general 
truths with which the Literal Sense abounds 
should first be considered. Children may be 
taught the stories of the Literal Sense, and 
told that they are representative of spiritual 
principles which they will understand in later 
years if they obey the simple commandments 
which are given. 

244. This simple Truth from the Literal Sense 
of the Word when obeyed is the " Messenger " 
which prepares the way for the perception of 
the Internal Sense, of whom it is said, "Behold 
I send my messenger before thy face, which shall 
prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one 
crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of 
the Lord, make His paths straight." This State 
is also represented by the Virgin Mary to whom 
the angel said, 

" Fear not, Mary ; for thou hast found favor 
with God." "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and 
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." 

245. In the Word, a Virgin signifies one who 
loves truths because they elevate the thoughts. 
A "Woman" also signifies the Affection for 
Truth, irrespective of sex. This correspondence 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



127 



The nature of woman. 



may be perceived from the very nature of 
woman, which is affection, and she is so 
mentally constituted that the will or affection 
prevails over the understanding, and in the 
regeneration of man, " Woman," in the Word, 
signifies the spiritual principle of Affection, and 
does not mean a person. In this First State 
of regeneration, when man begins to desire to 
know the Truths of the Word, it is said of the 
Virgin Mary, 

" The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and 
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; 
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born 
of thee shall be called the Son of God" 

And God said, Let there be Light : and there 
was Light. 

246. " And God said." Man communicates 
thought to another person by means of speech, 
writing, or signs. " Saying," or speech, implies 
hearing, and hearing implies perception of the 
thoughts contained within the speech. The 
communication of Divine Truth to the mind 
throughout the Word is represented by the 
Lord " speaking," or by the " Voice of the 
Lord." The spiritual inflowing of Divine Truth 
into the mind of man is not perceived by any 
of the organs of the physical frame, such as the 
ear, which hears sounds only which emanate 



Gal. 4 : 4 



John 4 : 39 
Luke 1 : 45 
Jer. 44 : 24 
Ps. 145 : 19 



Luke 1 : 35 
Prov. 4 : 7 
Luke 22 : 69 



Gen. 1 : 3 



Hab. 3 : 2 
Jer. 1 : 17 
Ex. 4 : 12 
Deut. 5 :27 
Prov. 20 : 12 
Deut. 1 : 14 
John 7 : 46 
Josh. 23 : 14 
Deut. 5 : 24 
Deut. 5 : 29 
2 Sam. 7 : 28 
Mark 8 : 17 
Mark. 8 : IS 



128 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Voice of God. 



The Mouth of God. 



from earthly objects, or the eye which sees 
only the forms of physical material things, and 
there has not been heard by any earthly ear an 
audible, physical Voice of God, for the Lord, 
in all past history, has only spoken with man 
by means of the Word in some tangible form, 
by which Divine Truth has been communicated 
to the natural mind. 

247. By the Word of God is not only meant 
the Sacred Scriptures in their present form, 
but also all Divine Revelation which is derived 
from the Interior principles of the Word, and 
written by the Science of Correspondences. 
All practical truths of life found in other books 
are derived from that Word which exists from 
the Internal Sense in its spiritual meaning. 
By the Truths of the Word are not meant the 
natural laws of God as they are found revealed 
in the objects of the earthly universe, although 
what are termed the Laws of Nature exist from 
a spiritual origin. 

248. The Word of God is the Mouth by which 
the Lord Jesus Christ speaks with man. " And 
he opened his mouth and taught them." He 
thus speaks with those who are in a state of 
life to perceive that He is the Life of the Word ; 
that the Word is from Him, and is the Body in 
which He manifests Himself and dwells among 
us ; not as a dead material book of paper and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 



129 



Light from the Word. 



The entrance of light. 



ink containing words which in themselves are 
dead, but in the Life within us from the Living 
Truths contained within those dead words. 
Thus " God said, " Let there be light." 

249. When a man has entered this First 
State of Regeneration, he begins to recognize 
that the principles of Goodness and Truth from 
the Word are of a superior nature. Men who 
are immersed in external natural thought, do 
not know what is meant by Goodness and 
Truth, for they imagine all things to be Good 
which relate to the Love of Self, without being 
aware that what they call Good, is evil, and 
that what they call Truth is falsity. But when 
the spiritual life of the regenerating man be- 
gins, he then first perceives that what he felt 
to be his own good, is evil, especially when he 
becomes enlightened to see that all Life and 
Light, or Good and Truth, is from the Word, 
or the Lord alone. 

250. Until a man recognizes this Truth, no 
Light can enter from above, or from the In- 
ternal into the External mind. This Light is 
the perception and acknowledgement that the 
Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord Jehovah, who 
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word was God. All 
things were made by Him; and without Him 
was not anything made that was made. In Him 



130 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The source of Light 



The Light glorified. 



was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. 
And the Light shineth in darkness; and the 
darkness comprehended it not. That ivas the 
true Light ivhich lighteth every man. that cometh 
into the world." 

251. This Light does not shine from the 
physical frame of any man who was born in 
time and space, but from the Seed which is 
conceived in the womb of the true Virgin Mary, 
the Interior Affection of the man who now first 
receives and acknowledges the Lord Jesus as 
the Word. " The seed is the Word" All con- 
ception of true doctrine from the Word is from 
the Father, or the Divine Love ; and all birth 
or re-generation is from the Divine Wisdom as 
a Mother. 

252. Only the man who is in the Affection 
for Truth, or in the desire to know and obey 
the Truth, can receive this Seed, which must 
be sown in good " earth " in order to spring up 
and become fruitful. This good " earth " is the 
will and understanding of the External mind 
which desires to be filled with Love and Wis- 
dom, the Seed of the Word from which Eternal 
Life is born. 

253. This is the " earth " or world into which 
the " true Light " is to be born and glorified, 
and in the order of regeneration it becomes a 
fact of true spiritual history that the Son of 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



131 



True spiritual facts. 



God is born of the Virgin Mary, and that He 
has no earthly father, but in the regeneration 
of men He is conceived and born from the Lord 
Jehovah according to the laws of Divine Order. 

254. The will and understanding of man are 
the voluntary and intellectual principles of his 
life ; the will, or volition, acting through the 
cerebellum of the physical brain, and the under- 
standing, or intellect, acting through the cere- 
brum, both principles acting as One in the 
nerves which proceed and radiate from the 
brain. This Voluntary and Intellectual prin- 
ciple constitutes the Individuality or Self-hood 
of man. In the following pages, the Latin word 
Proprium, by which is meant those principles 
which are proper to a man's individuality, will 
be used to indicate this characteristic. 

THE PROPRIUM OF MAN. 



255. The Proprium of man is his hereditary nature 
residing in the External mind, which in itself consists 
only of evil and false principles successively accruing 
through past generations and condensed in each indi- 
vidual. Evil is the tendency to actual sin. Man is 
not responsible for his hereditary evil nature, for he 
was born into this physical world without his own 
volition, and the evils derived from his ancestors are 
accumulated in his Proprium. The Lord ever pities 
this poor, weak, erring nature, and surrounds all men 



132 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Human responsibility. 



The evil Proprium. 



with every possible protecting influence without de- 
stroying their freedom of volition. 

256. A man is responsible for all the actual sin he- 
wills and does, or even he thinks. The Light from 
the Sun of Heaven shines so clearly to every man who 
has the Word, that he sees the nature of sin before he 
yields to the evil which tempts. The Proprium of 
every person resides in the sensual or natural mind, 
and not in the spiritual or regenerating mind in which 
he is elevated above his Proprium. From the Proprium, 
man believes only in himself, and loves evil instead of 
good, and falsity and self -intelligence rather than 
Truth from the Word, believing that nothing is there 
true excepting what he perceives materially or sen- 
sually, not knowing that those things in themselves* 
without the Spiritual Sense are as dead as his physical 
frame would be without the spirit which resides 
within it. 

257. As the spiritual mind is nourished by the "flesh 
and blood" of the Word which creates Heavenly life,, 
so the Proprium is fed with influences from hell, and 
all the combats between the Divine Truth and the evil 
and false principles of the Proprium occur in the- 
natural or External mind ; for as Heaven exists from 
the Lord by mutual love, so hell exists from the Pro- 
prium of man by the Love of Self and the World. 
Every man, as to his Proprium, is mere evil, and if 
left to himself would breathe nothing but hatred, re- 
venge, cruelty and adultery. Those who are in the 
Love of Self cannot perceive this evil Proprium, be- 
cause all things within them favor the Proprium. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 133 



A two-fold Proprium, 



The source of life. 



258. But in the process of regeneration, it will be 
encouraging to learn that there is a two-fold Proprium, 
— that which belongs to man as his own, from hell, 
and the Celestial or regenerated Proprium which is 
from the Lord alone by means of the Word. The 
Proprium of man is natural love separated from 
spiritual love, and since it is of such an evil nature, 
the Lord in His Divine Mercy has provided means by 
which it may be removed. The means are furnished 
by the Word, and when man thinks and speaks, or 
wills and acts according to the precepts of this Divine 
Word, he is then kept by the Lord in Divine Principles, 
and is thus withheld from his Proprium. As he per- 
severes in this course of life, a new voluntary and 
intellectual Proprium is formed within him by the 
Lord, which is altogether separated from his own Pro- 
prium. Thus man is created anew, and this is what 
is called his reformation and regeneration by truths 
from the Word, and by a life according to them. 

259. Nothing evil and false can possibly exist which 
is not from the Proprium of man ; so true is this, that 
if a man should be permitted to see his own Proprium, 
he would be struck with horror, and desire to flee from 
himself as though he were a devil. 

260. The Proprium of man in itself is dead, or desti- 
tute of spiritual life, for no person has any life from 
himself, and he does not even think from himself, for 
all ideas of thought flow into his mind, and he uses 
these ideas according to the nature of his Proprium as 
though they were his own. Whoever therefore sup- 
poses that he lives and thinks from himself, is in error, 
for he then appropriates to himself every evil and 



Is. 40 : 31 
2 Cor. 4: 16 
2 Cor. 4 : 15 

2 Cor. 6 : 17 

2 Cor. 6 : 18 

Rom. 13 : 1 

Ps. 17 : 4 

Ps. 25 : 4 

Ps. 25 : 21 

Ezek. 34 : 11 

Ezek. 34 : 12 

Ezek. 34 : 13 

Ezek. 34 : 16 

Ezek. 34 : 2J- 
24 

Ezek. 34 : 25 

Ezek. 34 : 26 

Ezek. 34 : 27- 
28 

Ezek. 34 : 30 

Ps. 55 : 11 
Jer. 2 : 19 
Lam. 5 : 10 
Ps. 40 : 2 
Ezek. 26 : 21 
Ps. 38 : 7 

Is. 26 : 14 
2 Cor 13 : 3 
2 Cor. 13 : 4 



Ps. 16 : 4 
Deut. 32 : 5 



134 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Preservation of individuality. 



Seeing the light. 



Ps. 17 : 9 
Ps. 40 : 12 
Ps. 35 : 7 

Is, 13 : 13 

Ps. 87 : 7 
Rom. 14 : 7 
Rom, 15 : 1 
Rom. 7 : 17 
Is. 9 : 2 



Gen. 1 : 4 



Ps. 53 : 2 
Prov. 1 : 2 
Prov. 1 : 8 
Prov. 1 : 5 
Prov 1 : 6 
Ps. 8 : 3 
Ps - 8 : 1 
Ps. 18 : 22 
Ps. 9 : 1 
Ezek. 10 : 4 
Luke 11 : 36 



false idea which flows into his mind from such evil 
spirits who are of a like nature with himself, because 
they are his own evils and falses which are personified 
as enemies and evil spirits in the Word. 

261. In the gradual removal of the Proprium, the 
individuality of the regenerating man is not taken 
away, but his talents and faculties will be developed 
and brought into higher exercise, with the motive of 
being useful to others, rather than seeking the grati- 
fication of the Love of Self, and he is thus led by the 
Word from darkness toward that Light which ever 
after will brighten his whole existence. 

And God saw the light, that it was good ; and 
God divided the light from the darkness. 



262. When 



seeing 



in the Word is spoken 



Matt. 6 : 



of man, it signifies to perceive, or to under- 
stand, according to what is said, and that the 
External mind is illuminated by a more interior 
perception of the Truth enclosed within the 
Literal Sense. When a man surveys the starry 
heavens with his physical eyes, and thinks of 
the Lord who made them ; or when he reads 
the apparent truths of the Word, and is thereby 
led to see and obey the spiritual principles which 
are thus conveyed, his mind is illuminated so 
that he has clearer perception. 

263. The physical eye sees from the sight of 
the spirit which is within, and external sight 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 135 



The gift of sight. 



Lovely and agreeable objects. 



was given man in order that from beholding 
objects in the physical world, he might be led 
continually to reflect on the true principles 
which govern the "other life," because he is 
created for that life, or degree of spiritual 
attainment in which the mind is elevated above 
earthly thought, and in which all natural objects 
become means of heavenly instruction. 

2(54. A man to whom the Spiritual Sense of 
the Word has been revealed, is so imbued with 
the reality of the spiritual world which is opened 
to him by means of the Word, that when he 
sees the sun, his mind instantly reverts to the 
Lord as the Sun of Heaven. When he beholds 
the first dawn of the morning light, he medi- 
tates on the rise of all true principles from the 
Word and their progress in the order of re- 
generation to the full day of wisdom. Also, 
when he looks on gardens, orchards, and beds 
of flowers, his eye is not confined to any par- 
ticular tree, plant, or blossom and fruit, but he 
is led to a contemplation of the heavenly things 
represented by them. 

265. When he sees the beautiful color and 
formation of the flowers, he is led to regard the 
spiritual principles which they represent in the 
other life, for there is not a single object exist- 
ing in the sky or earth which is lovely and 
agreeable, but which is in some way represen- 



Ps. 25: 15 
Zech. 9 : 1 
Ps. 73 : 24 
Is. 43 : 7 
Job 14 : 1 
Is. 44 : 7 



Zech. 13 : 1 
Rev. 19 : 11 
Is. 30: 26 
Mai. 4 : 2 
2 Pet. 1 : 19 
Matt, 28 : 1 
Matt. 28 : 2 
Matt. 28 : 3 
Jer. 29 : 5 
Eccles. 2 : 5 
Cant. 2 ; 12 
Hos. 14 : 5 
Ps. 143 : 5 
Ps. 143 : 6 

Eccles. 3 : 11 

Is. 52 : 1 
Col. 1 : 16 
Ps. 135 : 6 
Ps. 36 : 5 



136 



Interior objects. 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Seeing God. 



Is. 54 : 12 
Heb. 9 : 23 
Rev. 11 : 19 
Acts 1 : 9 
John 11 : 27 
Rev. 5 : 6 
John 12 : 50 
John 12 : 44 

John 12 : 45 

Jer. 43 : 10 
Zcch. 9 : 16 



1 Cor. 16 : 13 
Mark 11 : 22 
Rom. 10 : 12 
Jer. 10 : 1 
Is. 59: 21 
Prov. 8 : 8 
Prov. 8 : 9 

2 Cor. 5 ; 7 

1 Thess. 5 : 8 
Ps. 37 : 18 

2 Tim. 2 : 19 
Prov. 19 : 8 
Ps. 85 ; 12 



tative of the Lord's Kingdom. Those persons 
who perceive the Spiritual Sense of the Word, 
do not confine their sight to mere external 
objects, but continually from them behold 
Interior Principles which are essentially things 
relating to spiritual life, which is the life of 
regeneration. They do not regard the Word 
of God from the Literal Sense alone, but con- 
sider those things described in the Letter of 
the Word as representative and significative of 
heavenly principles, and thus the Literal Sense 
is only an instrumental means of leading the 
thoughts upward or to more Interior Truths. 

266. In the verse under consideration it is 
said that "God saw the light." When "see- 
ing " is predicated of God, in the Internal Sense 
it denotes faith in the regenerating man which 
is received from Him by the Truths of the 
Word. As the Word is Gocl, all its Truths 
which are implanted in the mind of man are 
from Him, and enable man to see spiritual 
principles. To have faith in God is to see 
Him in the Word and obey its precepts from 
Affection for these Truths. Since the Lord is 
Infinite Omniscience in Himself, this expression 
has relation to the Light in the regenerating 
man which he perceives is from God ; there- 
fore this Light is "good." 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



137 



Intellectual Sight. 



Separation between light and darkness. 



267. As the sight of the physical eye corre- 
sponds to the Understanding, therefore "seeing" 
is attributed to this faculty, and in the Word 
signifies Intellectual Sight. It is quite common 
to say that ideas or thoughts are " seen" when 
they are understood. Light is also predicated 
of the Understanding as well as darkness and 
obscurity, and these analogies are of ordinary 
occurrence in speech or illustration, because 
they correspond to each other. 

And God divided the light from the darkness. 

288. " Darkness " signifies all those evil and 
false principles which before the beginning of 
regeneration appear like light, because in that 
State evil seemed like good, and falsity had the 
appearance of truth, when in reality all was 
darkness resulting from the Proprium which 
is to be removed through the progressive states 
of regeneration. 

269. The Divine Truth of the Word now 
enlightens the regenerating man in regard to 
the nature of his Proprium, and shows him 
the separation there is between the True Light 
which shines from obedience to the Word and 
the Appearance of Light which has hitherto 
illuminated his mind, but which, emanating 
from his own false principles, was " darkness 
rather than li^ht." 



13S 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The assertion of Divine Truth. 



Night. 



Gen. 1 : 5 

Ps. 147 : 4 
John 10 : 3 
Is. 45 : 4 

Heb. 4 : 12 

Ps. 33 : 9 

2 Sam. 23 : 3 

Prov. 22 : 1 

Zech. 10 : 12 
Eccles. 7 : 1 
Micah 4 : 5 
Ezek 48 : 35 
Ezek. 24 : 2 
Deut. 33 ; 25 

John 11 : 10 
John 13 : 30 
Josh. 1 : 8 
Zcch 2 : 11 
Js. 60: 11 



And God called the light Day, and the darkness 
he called Night. 

270. " Calling," or giving a name to any 
principle in man, signifies a perception of its 
quality, whether it is good or evil, or true or 
false. As God is Omniscient, He knows all 
the qualities in the nature of man, and this 
form of expression is used in the Literal Sense 
to indicate that it is Divine Truth, therefore 
in this form of words it is stated that "God 
said," or " God spoke all these words," or " God 
called." 

271. When we speak the name of a person, 
not only do his features and bodily form pre- 
sent themselves before our minds, but the 
qualities of his life as we have known him also 
appear before us. Thus the quality of the true 
Light which now illumines the regenerating 
man is recognized and called " Day," because 
it is from the Lord, and is compared to the 
light of day ; but whatever belongs to man's 
unregenerated Proprium is in darkness, and is 
called "Night." The comparisons of "day" 
and "night " are frequently used in the Word 
to illustrate these principles, and represent the 
States of man in his entrance to regenerate 
life. 



TEE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



139 



Evening 



Moi 



And the evening and the morning were the 
first day. 

272. The " Evening " denotes all the preced- 
ing states which were preparatory to the 
" Beginning " of spiritual life, which were in 
obscurity and falsity and therefore were in the 
shjade signified by the word " evening," when 
man exists in the life of his Proprium, which 
is " darkness." In the order of regeneration, 
" Evening" must always precede the " Morn- 
ing," because before the light dawns there is 
always darkness, and in the subsequent states 
of regeneration, each preceding state is com- 
pared to evening in relation to the one which 
follows, just in the same manner as in the 
natural world of thought, what is light to us 
to-day will be as evening compared with our 
attainments in spiritual knowledge in the 
future, which will then be Morning, or the 
dawn of superior intelligence. 

273. - "Morning" signifies clearer revelation 
from the Lord by means of the Word, and the 
consequent increase of spiritual perception as 
the Proprium is vivified by its Living Truths. 
Each Advent of the Lord into the world of the 
mind of the regenerating man by means of 
clearer perceprion of the Living Principles of 
the Word is " Morning." This state is not 



140 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Spiritual glory. 



Entering the First Day. 



simply compared to the morning, but is called 
the " Day-dawn" or the dawning of the Day," 
because when the Lord appears, and His 
Kingdom in the Word begins to rule over the 
Proprium of man, there shines an effulgence of 
spiritual glory resembling the morning twilight 
or dawn of day. 

274. The Eesurrection of the Lord from the 
grave of man's natural thought, by the opening 
of the sepulchre of the earth of the Literal 
Sense of the Word, — the Divine Truth descend- 
ing from Heaven and rolling back the stone 
of Sensual or Material truth, — takes place in 
the " early morning," and upon the " First Day 
of the week." A "Week," or Seven Days, 
signifies the whole period of a man's life, not 
the life of the physical frame in this world, but 
the whole regenerate life through all its states 
to eternity, and in the minds of all who are 
being regenerated He not only arises daily 
at the dawn of the morning, but through every 
moment of life. 

275. Thus the regenerating man has entered 
upon the First Day of Creation, and the Lord, 
by means of the Literal Truths from the Word, 
has given " form " to them in his External 
mind, so that where they were "void," "empty," 
and "darkness," they are now "moved upon" 
by the Giver of Life, so that he freely opens 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



141 



The Conception. 



The espousaf 



the thick shutters of his Proprium to admit 
the warmth and light of the morning sun to 
purify the vitiated air which he has been 
breathing to his own destruction, and the 
Resurrection Morn is coming to him whose 
death is taking place. 

276. It is during this First day of Regener- 
ation that the Conception of the Son of God 
takes place within the mind of the regenerating 
man whose Will is warmed with affection for 
the Literal Truths of the Word, when the 
Virgin Mary conceives by the Power of the 
Holy Ghost. 

277. The espousal of Joseph and Mary signi- 
fies the State of Reformation which precedes 
the " Beginning" of regenerate life, before the 
Rational Faculty is enlightened to clearly per- 
ceive the Internal Sense of the Word, except- 
ing by the obscure perceptions which are 
indicated by the Angel appearing unto Joseph 
in a dream, in which a premonition is com- 
municated that the Internal Sense of the Word 
will appear in coherent order in succeeding 
states. The formation and birth of the Holy 
Child will be more fully illustrated under the 
subjects of the Second and Third Days of 
Creation. 



Mark 16 : 3 
Ezek. 8 : 16- 
Prov. 16 : 6 
Ezek. 37 : 8 
Bzek. 37 : 9* 
Ezek. 37 : l«i 

Num. 28 : S- 
Is. 43 : 10 
Col. 1 : 23 
Col. 1 : 27 
Col, 1 : 28 
Luke 1 : 3^ 
Luke 1 : 35- 

Matt. 1: IS 
Matt. 3 : 8 
Rom. 2 : 4 
Matt. 1 : 19 
Zech. 14 : 8- 

Matt. 1 : 2* 
Mark 1 : 21 



142 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Firmament. 



The midst. 



THE SECOND DAY OF CREATION ; 

OR, 

THE SECOND STATE OF REGENERATION. 



And God said, Let there be a Firmament in the 
midst of the waters, and let it divide the 
waters from the waters. 

278. The natural idea of the f< Firmament " 
is of the space or expanse which is above or 
encircling the earth, and it has been illustrated 
that things which are above are representative 
of Interior principles, and things which are 
below denote Exterior principles. " In the 
midst " denotes Within, and " waters " signify 
Knowledges of Truths from the Literal Sense 
of the Word upon which the Spirit of God 
has been moving and warming into life. 

279. The " Firmament " signifies an Interior 
Principle which is created in the midst of these 
knowledges, which the Mercy of the Lord, or 
Power of the Highest has brought forth into 
" Day," in which a perception is communicated 
to the regenerating man that the Word is the 
only True Spiritual Light, and that the Lord 
within its expressions is Goodness and Truth 
alone, while the Proprium of man is evil and 
false. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 143 



An interior mental principle. A division. 



THE BATIONAL FACULTY. 

280. This " Firmament " or Interior Principle, is the Rational 
Faculty, which now begins to discern and separate Actual Truths 
from the Appearances of Truth as they exist in the Literal Sense 
of the Word, and discriminates between True Doctrines derived 
therefrom, and those which favor the Love of Self, for any false 
doctrine may be continued from the letter of the Word when the 
mind does not recognize that the expressions contain an Internal 
Sense. 

281. The Rational Faculty is taught to distinguish or " divide ** 
the Internal mind, or " heaven" from the External mind, or "earth." 
Before regeneration begins, a man is not aware that an Internal 
mind exists, and therefore he has no knowledge of its nature and 
quality, because he is so occupied with corporeal and worldly 
things that he cannot conceive that there is any difference between 
the Internal and External nature of his mind, and thus he forms 
confused and indistinct ideas which emanate from two perfectly 
distinct principles. 

282. All the Wisdom, Intelligence, Reason, and Science which 
fill the understanding, are from the Lord alone, although these 
principles appear to emanate from man. The true order of Life 
flowing into the understanding, is, first, Wisdom from the Lord, 
from wisdom, Intelligence, from intelligence, Reason, and by 
reason, the Scientifics of the memory are vivified. 

283. When the regenerating man enters the Second State of 
Regeneration, a division takes place by means of the Rational 
Faculty perceiving such principles which flow in from the Lord, 
and those which arise from the Proprium. Those principles which 
are from the Lord, are all the knowledges and Truths of the Word 



144 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Remnant, or External memory. Scientific principles. 

which have hitherto been stored up in the External memory, 
which are spoken of in the Word as a " Remnant," and they are 
not made manifest until this Second State is entered upon. 

284. The Internal mind forms the Inmost Principle of man, 
which distinguishes him from animals which do not possess such 
a principle, and this is the entrance to man for the Lord by the 
Truths of the Word. Beneath this Inmost Principle of the mind, 
the Rational Faculty exists, and it appears to a man as though it 
were derived from himself, because he thinks from this faculty, 
and before regeneration begins, it belongs to his Proprium ; but 
afterwards, when he is led to believe in the Word as the Lord, it 
becomes " good ground " into which the Seed of the Word as it 
falls, " springs up and bears much fruit." 

285. The Rational Faculty, or " Firmament," pertains to the 
External mind, and it acts as a Medium or Intermediate Principle 
between the Internal and External mind. The External mind 
consists of Three Principles, the Rational, or inmost principle, the 
Scientific, or intermediate principle, and the Sensual, or exterior 
principle. The Rational Principle conjoins the Internal mind with 
the External, and this conjunction is according to the nature and 
quality of the Rational Principle. If Divine Love flows into the 
Rational Faculty by obedience to the Truths of the Word, from 
Affection for every good principle which constitutes Love to the 
Lord, it then becomes of a spiritual nature, which is perverted to 
the opposite quality when the Love of Self flows into it. 

286. By Scientific principles are meant all the means employed 
by external aids to increase in knowledge, which is stored up in 
the External memory. In a general sense all earthly education 
is meant by the word Scientific, and in a specific sense when 
applied to the regenerating man, is meant all knowledges and 
doctrines pertaining to the Literal Sense of the Word, which are 
the means by which a person may become wise in spiritual things. 



\ 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 145 

The Sensual principle. Appearances. 

The Rational Faculty examines all scientifics and doctrines to 
observe if they are according to the laws of Divine Order before 
they are believed and confirmed in the life. 

287. By the Sensual, or Corporeal principle, is meant the senses 
of sight, hearing, touch, smelling and taste, which act from the 
External mind through the organs of the physical frame, and it 
must be constantly kept in view that these principles are being 
considered without any reference to the physical frame, which in 
itself is simply an instrument or machine which is operated by 
the mind which fills its form. 

THE OPENING OF THE RATIONAL FACULTY. 

288. Every regenerating man has a natural and a spiritual 
mind, or a natural and a spiritual will and understanding. The 
natural mind wills and thinks concerning the things of the phy- 
sical world and concerning things of natural thought, and the 
things of the Literal Sense of the Word, while the spiritual mind 
wills and thinks according to the Interior Truths of the Word, or 
as an angel of Heaven. If a man acts and speaks from himself 
alone, and thinks from self concerning the Word, he has only 
natural thought, but if he acknowledges the Lord within the 
Word, and perceives that it treats of Internal principles concern- 
ing heavenly life, he will be led from natural to spiritual thought 
if he obeys its precepts. When a man has been led to spiritual 
thought, it appears as if he had attained this degree of elevated 
thought by himself alone, yet this is only an Appearance, in order 
that he may be led in freedom, for the Lord is leading him by the 
Word. 

289. As the natural mind is opened and formed by the things 

of this world, and by the Appearances which exist in the Literal 

Sense of the Word, and the spiritual mind is opened and formed 

by heavenly principles, it is essential that the Rational Faculty 

J 



146 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Obedience to the Word. Abstaining from evil. 

should be opened and formed by the Internal principles of the 
Word, because they are divine and constitute Heaven. The Word 
contains Truths which are to be known and thought, and Goods 
which are to be willed and performed, by both of which the 
Rational Faculty is to be enlightened and perfected. If the Pre- 
cepts of the Word are not obeyed, but an act of mental faith alone 
is substituted for them, there will be no discernment of the 
Interior principles of the Word, and the natural mind will possess 
only a natural or historical faith, which is merely a scientific or 
natural light from which the natural mind thinks. 

290. In order that the Rational Faculty may be opened and 
formed, it is essential that it should have a storehouse from which 
it may be supplied with its requisite food. This storehouse of 
supply consists of the natural or external memory, in which every 
good thing that it is possible to know shall be stored up for use, 
and thence called forth as occasion may require. This storehouse 
must be filled with Truths from the Word, which are to be be- 
lieved, and Goods which are to be done, and these must be learned 
from the earliest dawn of religious thought. These simple Goods 
and Truths must be taught by parents to their children, by pre- 
cept and example, so that the door of this storehouse may be 
readily opened to transmit these knowledges. But all these 
things from the Word stored in the memory, even to the greatest 
abundance, are only natural, or scientific, until the Rational 
Faculty is opened to perceive a more Interior meaning. 

291. The Rational Faculty has its first dawn by abstaining 
from doing evils, because they are contrary to the" Divine Pre- 
cepts of the Word. If a man abstains from evil from any other 
motive, for any selfish end, the Rational Faculty will not be 
opened. A man must first remove the evils he sees in himself, 
with the strength given him, acknowledging the Lord, for all 
evils which are in the External mind keep Heaven closed, and as 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



147 



The entrance of the Word. Elevated Truths. 

the Lord is the Word, they who abstain from doing evils, because 
they are contrary to the Divine Precepts in the Word, abstain 
from them with power from the Lord. In proportion as evil is 
removed, in the same proportion Goodness enters from the Lord, 
which constitutes Heaven. If unchaste thoughts are removed, 
the mind becomes pure ; if intemperance is removed, temperance 
enters ; if deceitfulness is removed, sincerity enters ; if hatred 
and revenge are removed, love and friendship enter, and thus it 
is with all other evils which are to be overcome in the order of 
regeneration. 

THE FORMATION OF THE RATIONAL FACULTY. 

A 

292. The Rational Faculty is formed from those things which 
are stored in the memory from the Word. When a man loves to 
obey the Truth because he sees that it is true, and that it will 
elevate his being with higher principles of obedience,, an affection 
for the Truth flows into the mind from the Lord as evils are re- 
moved. This affection is given from the Lord alone, for the Lord 
in Heaven is Divine Truth, and thus this affection is given by the 
Word. The things of the Literal Sense of the Word which are 
stored in the memory, are then elevated and purified by the 
Internal Sense being revealed by the Lord, and Genuine Truths 
are discriminated and separated from the Appearances of Truth, 
for the Rational Faculty can only be formed from Genuine Truths, 
as Heaven, or the Internal Sense, can exist, in no other form. 

293. The Genuine Truths of the Word are elevated by the Lord, 
and the mind perceives them while in a higher degree of thought, 
which is effected by the inflowing of heavenly principles accord- 
ing to Divine Order. These elevated Truths are not in a natural 
form, but are in a spiritual form, abstracted from time, space, and 
objective persons. Truths in a natural form are such as those 
which are in the Literal Sense of the Word, and when the Rational 



148 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



" After death." Natural life. 

Faculty is opened, which takes place "after death," or when 
natural thought has ceased to exist without being actuated by 
spiritual thought, the regenerating man thinks and speaks spirit- 
ually according to the Genuine Truths of the Internal Sense. 
While he lives in the state of natural thought alone, he is not 
aware that even natural thought exists from a correspondence 
with spiritual principles, but when the Rational Faculty is opened, 
this natural state of thought is changed, and he thinks according 
to the spiritual principles of the Word. 

294. When the Rational Faculty is opened and formed, then 
the Lord re-forms the natural mind, because there is then an 
orderly inflowing of principles from the Internal mind, which is 
in Heaven, and the natural mind, being in the world, cannot be 
re-created with heavenly principles excepting by receiving the 
elevating principles of the Internal Sense of the Word, whereby 
the principles of the natural mind are brought into orderly sub- 
jection, so as to correspond with the principles of the spiritual 
mind, or with the principles of the Internal Sense, which fill the 
spiritual mind. The Truths which are in the natural mind from 
the spiritual, are called rational, moral, natural, and in general,. 
Scientific Truths, and the Goods which are in the natural mind 
from the spiritual are called affections and desires for those Truths,, 
and from them are derived thoughts, speech, and actions, which 
are called uses. All those principles which exist in the natural 
mind from the Spiritual Sense of the Word received into the- 
Rational Faculty, enter the intuition and perception of the re- 
generating man, and thence actuate the natural principles, so that 
this " earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." 

295. As the Rational Faculty is formed, the regenerating man 
is perfected in intelligence and wisdom, and becomes a man, for 
no man is a man from his natural mind, which in itself alone is 
simple natural animal life, but he becomes a man by principles of 

% 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 149 



An Angel of Heaven. The Material Degree. 

intelligence and wisdom from the Lord, or the Word, and in pro- 
portion as he receives these heavenly principles he is a beautiful 
man, and is already an angel of Heaven ; but when these Divine 
principles of the Word are rejected and perverted, the natural 
mind takes the form of a monster and not of a man, because all 
the principles which form a divine life are suffocated and dis- 
torted. Man is not a man from his parents by hereditary descent, 
but becomes a man from the Lord who creates him anew by the 
Word, and thus the process of regeneration forms a man. This 
process must take place within every man, without which there 
can be no spiritual life, or Heaven, and all men throughout the 
coming ages of time must be led from evil to good. 

THE MATERIAL DEGREE OF THE MIND. 

296. The Material Principle of the External mind is the first 
receptacle of the Literal Sense of the W T ord, which constitutes the 
Material Human Principle which the Son of Man first assumes in 
the order of the regeneration of man. This Material Principle 
does not consist of physical substances, neither does the Literal 
Sense of the Word culminate in fixed physical events, but it rests 
in the ultimate or Material Principle of the External mind, or 
lowest plane of Natural Thought. 

297. This is an important distinction which should be clearly 
comprehended at this point, in order to avoid confusion of mind 
in following the order of thought in the succeeding pages, and 
especially in studying the Interior Truths concerning the assump- 
tion and glorification of the Material Human Principle in man by 
the Lord, or the Word. 

298. The Literal Sense of the Word is adapted to the Natural 
Thought of the Material Principle of the External mind, and 



150 



TEE FACE OF JESUS: 



The division. The waters above and below. 

since it originates from the Internal Sense by correspondence be- 
tween natural and spiritual principles, it does not lead to physical 
occurrences as the mind recognizes an Internal Principle. From 
the degree of Natural Thought, the understanding may be elevated 
to perceive the Internal Sense within, but if the mind is led away 
from spiritual truths to ideas of earthly physical histor}^ there 
will result confliction and a tendency toward material rather than 
spiritual thoughts concerning the Word. 



Gen. 1 : 7 



Ps. 133 : 7 
Ps. 77 : 16 
Ex. 14 : 21 
Ex. 14 : 22 
Joel 2 : 27 
Deut. 10 : 14 
Heb. 11 : 16 
Heb. 12 : 22 
Heb. 12: 23 
Deut. 4 : 39 
Ps. 33 : 11 
Ps. 146 : 5 
Ps. 146 : 6 
Is. 51 ; 15 



And God made the Firmament, and divided 
the waters which were under the Firmament 
from the waters which were above the Fir- 
mament ; and it was so. 

299. It will be noticed that in the previous 
verse of the Word, the " Firmament " was first 
created " in the midst of the waters," but in 
this verse, " the waters which were under the 
firmament " are divided " from the waters 
which were above." In the progress of his 
regeneration, the man begins to know that 
there is an Internal mind within him, and that 
the principles which fill this Internal mind are 
Heavenly, and are from the Lord alone. Thus 
the Eational Faculty begins to be vivified with 
a perception that its life is from the Lord, and 
that He " made the Firmament," and that " the 
waters" below and above are divided by the 
Lord by means of the Eational Faculty. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



151 



External motives. 



Mental afflicti 



300. At this stage of the progress of regen- 
eration, the External mind is of such a nature 
that the man supposes the good which he does 
to emanate from his own power, and the truths 
which he speaks to be spoken of himself. By 
these Appearances he is led by the Lord, as 
by things of his own individuality, or Pro- 
prium, to do good and speak truth, and these 
external principles are " the waters which were 
under the firmament." 

301. In attaining this era in one's spiritual 
history, this state of regeneration is generally 
accompanied by suffering, temptation, loss of 
property, misfortune, sorrow, or mental afflic- 
tion, and the combat begins between the 
unregenerated External mind and the Internal 
Internal mind, because all things which apper- 
tain to the External mind which have refer- 
ence to the affairs of this world, in which the 
Proprium resides, are to be brought into a 
state of quiescence or subjection, the experience 
of which is akin to death, and which becomes 
the " valley of the shadow of death" through 
which the regenerating man must walk, for the 
things belonging to the External mind must be 
separated from the Internal mind by means of 
the vivified Rational Faculty or " Firmament" 
which the Lord has made. 



152 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Trouble and anguish. 



Substitution. 



302. Now the pains of labor and travail be- 
gin, which attend the birth of the Lord upon 
the " earth," or the External mind of the re- 
generating man. " Ask ye now, and see whether 
a man doth travail with child." "Fear took 
hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman 
in travail." " Trouble and anguish have taken 
hold on me." 

303. Now the evil powers of the Proprium 
exert their utmost influence to obscure the 
Light from the Word, to destroy his spiritual 
life, but the Lord has "made" the Rational 
FacuLy into which the Divine Truth is enter- 
ing with power, and this Truth is a solid Rock 
upon which the anxious and perplexed mind 
can surely rest, " and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it," for Heavenly Principles are 
flowing in from the Lord, which are filled with 
Life, while the " flesh and blood," or evil and 
falsity of the Proprium, must die in the regen- 
eration of man, and the resurrection into Life 
Eternal will soon take place. 

304. The regeneration of the External mind 
becomes the true Substitution of the Life of 
the Lord in man in place of the natural Pro- 
prium. It is the power of the Lord alone 
which gives strength to man in fighting against 
the influences of hell in the External mind, 
and subdues them, and this is His Merit and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 153 



spirits. 



The Conqueror. 



Righteousness, without any self-merit on the 
part of man. The Lord alone regenerates man, 
and this regeneration cannot be accomplished 
without severe combats and temptations, from 
which comes salvation from sin. 

305. The temptations arise from the evils 
which infest the Proprium. They are personi- 
fied as evil spirits, and are like men who live 
in the physical frame in this world, who in free- 
dom shut out the Light of Heaven from them- 
selves, and whose delight is to ruin man, and 
these evil spirits endeavor to kill his perception 
of spiritual life, by filling his mind with such 
temptations which will be most likely to allure 
him toward natural or material thought, by 
exciting the Love of Self. Unless these evil 
spirits, or evil and false principles, are overcome 
and driven away by the aggression of the 
Heavenly Principles of the Word, men could 
not be saved from sin. By the Word alone 
can the Lord conquer and save, and thus the 
Word becomes Merit and Righteousness in the 
regenerating man, instead of self-righteousness. 

306. During this Second Day, the Rational 
Faculty is being formed by the Affection for 
the Truths of the Word. These Truths must 
be learned from the Literal Sense of the Word, 
and received into the natural or material prin- 
ciple of the External mind by means of the 



154 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The pulpit and the press. 



Water above, 



Ps. 77 : 5 

Rom, 15 : 4 

Eccles. 12 : 9 

Ecoles. 12 : 
10 

Ex. 20 : 24 
Eph, 3 : 4 
Jo') 42: 5 
!Neh. 8 : 2 
Job 19 : 23 
Deut. 17 ; 19 
Jjhn 6: 56 
Eccles. 7 : 25 
Luke 24: 15 
1 Cor. 2 ; 13 
1 Cor. 3 : 15 
1 Cor. 3 : 16 
1 Cor. 3 : 17 

Z-.ch. 8: 12 
Hag. 2 : 19 
Judges9 : 12 
Joel 2 : 22 
Micah 4 : 4 
Ps. 119 : 50 
Ps. 119 : 93 
Eph. 1 : 18 
Ps. 56: 13 
Mark 15 : 39 
Acts 3 : 26 



sense of sight or hearing. In former cen- 
turies, when the education of mankind was in 
obscurity, the simple Truths of the Word were 
proclaimed by the mouth of religious teachers 
from pulpits and in places of public worship, 
to people who could not read and reflect, and 
these Truths were received by the sense of 
hearing ; but in the present era, the Lord has 
provided the printing-press as a Voice or 
Teacher by which the acute sense of sight may 
absorb the Divine Truth and the Appearances 
of Truth in the Word, so that the Eational 
Faculty may be enabled to perceive, compare, 
and discriminate, for the Word treats both of 
the Lord, and the false principles of the Pro- 
prium which lead men away from the Living 
Principles of the Word. 

307. The "Seed" of the Word having been 
sown in the External memory, the Eational 
Faculty perceives the Truth which is contained 
therein, and as the Affection for this Truth 
flows from the Internal mind into this Rational 
Faculty, it becomes quickened with life and is 
made Divine, and in clue time there will be 
illumination given to perceive that this Interior 
Divine Truth is the Son of God, which has been 
conceived by the Holy Spirit, or the Divine 
Proceeding of the Word. These Divine Truths 
are the "waters which are above the firmament." 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



155 



Heaven. 



Combat and conjunction. 



And God called the firmament Heaven. 

308. The Rational Faculty is now called 
" Heaven," because the regenerating man now 
perceives that it is vivified from Heavenly 
Principles, as the Proprium gradually dies 
and is removed, for the External mind then 
begins to be ruled by the Kingdom of Heaven 
which is within the Internal mind. 

And the Evening and the Morning were the 
Second Day. 

309. Thus each and every moment of regen- 
eration proceeds from the obscurity of the 
Truths of the Literal Sense of the Word as re- 
ceived by the External mind, to the clearer 
light of their spiritual meaning as they are 
perceived by the Rational Faculty which is 
vivified by the Living Principles from the Lord 
in the Internal mind. 

210. The Second Day therefore is the state 
in which the conjunction of the External mind 
with the Internal begins to take place through 
the illumination of the Eational Faculty, and 
it also signifies the state of labor and combat 
which exists in subduing the Proprium so that 
this conjunction may eventually occur. 



156 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Joseph. 



Galil 



ee : 



PARALLEL ILLUSTRATIONS 
FEOM THE GOSPEL HISTOEY, 

OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE SECOND DAY. 

THE MATERNITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 



And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of 
the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city 
of David, which is called Bethlehem (because 
he was of the house and lineage of David). 

311. The names of all persons, places and 
things in the Word are representative of 
Spiritual Principles. The word " Joseph," 
whether in the Old or New Testament, repre- 
sents the Rational Faculty, and in this verse 
it signifies the state of this Interior Principle 
which has hitherto not been aware of the exist- 
ence of the Internal mind, and is the same as 
the " Firmament" which was "in the midst of 
the waters," 

312. " Galilee" represents the External mind 
of the regenerating man who is in the external 
good or natural affection for the Truths of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, in the life of Love 
to the Neighbor, without the knowledge that 
there is an Internal Sense of the Word, by the 
revelation of which, it is made known that there 
is an Internal mind. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



157 



A city. 



The city of David.. 



313. A " City" signifies Truth, or the Doc- 
trine of Truth from the Word. " Nazareth" is 
a City of " Galilee," and here signifies external 
doctrine or the Truth of the Literal Sense of 
the Word, or the scientific principle of the 
External mind. 

314. In the Book of Judges it will be found 
that Samson was a Nazarite, and that his 
strength was in his hair. As the hair is the 
most exterior of all things belonging to the 
physical frame, it corresponds to the merely 
exterior principles of the External mind, there- 
fore by the strength of the hair of Samson, is 
represented the power of external truths which 
must first be attended to in the order of re- 
generation, and thus in the personification of 
Samson is manifested the power which is con- 
tained in the Literal Sense of the Word when 
its Truths are applied to the life, for they lead 
the Rational Faculty to " divide the waters 
which are beneath," or the exterior Appear- 
ances of Truth, from the "waters which are 
above the firmament," or the Interior Divine 
Truths of the Word. 

315. In the order of regeneration, " Joseph," 
or the Rational Faculty, enters from this state 
" into Judea, unto the City of David, which is 
called Bethlehem." Since the country of 
"Galilee" represents the External mind, the 



Prov. 8 : 3 
Ps. 48 : 1 
Luke 1 : 2t> 
Luke 4 : W 
Matt. 21 : IE 
John 1 : 46 
Judges 13 : 5- 
Judges 13 : 7 

Judges 16 ; 
17 

Gen. 27 : 11 

Num. 6 : 2 

Num. 6 : 5 

Num. 6 : 1$ 

Num. 6 : 21 

Is. 7 : 20 

Matt. 10 : 30 

Luke 12 : 7 

Judges 16 : 
29 

Ezek. 8 : 3 
Ps. 74 : 12 
Ps. 74 : 13 
Ezek. 5 : 1_ 
§321 
§ 328 



Acts 10: 37 



158 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



-Judea. 



House. 



Amos 7 : 12 
Ps. 105 : 17 
Ps. 148 : 4 



Is. 55 : 3 
Is, 9 : 7 
Matt. 22 : 42 
2 Sam. 5 : 9 
1 Kings 8 : 1 

-John 7 : 42 

H Sam. 33 : 
15 

1 Sam. 20 : 6 
Ps. 116: 7 
Gen. 29 : 31 
Ps. 116 : 8 
Ps.116: 17 
Ps. 118 : 28 

Ps. 116 : 1 
Ps. 116 : 2 
Is, 29 : 16 
Job 14 : 4 
Ps. 138: 6 
Luke 2 : 4 
Gen. 13 : 15 
Ps. 119 : 2 
Ps. 119 : 27 
Ps. 119 : 68 
Amos 7 : 16 



country of " Judea " denotes the Internal mind, 
to which " Joseph" or the Rational Faculty, is 
led, bearing the same relation to the Eational 
Faculty as the "waters which are above" do 
to the " Firmament." 

316. " David" signifies the Lord as to the 
Divine Truth of the Word, and therefore the 
Internal Sense of the Word, and the " City of 
David " denotes true doctrine derived from the 
Internal Sense. 

317. "Bethlehem" is the city or doctrine in 
which the Internal Sense of the Word is born, 
and into which the Eational Faculty rests, for 
"Joseph" now perceives that the Interior 
Truth of the Word originates from the Lord, 
and the regenerating man is now warmed with 
affection for the Word, from the Lord who fills 
the Internal mind, whereas, when he was in the 
state represented by "Nazareth" in "Galilee," 
he thought that his good desires originated in 
himself, and now perceives that such ascription 
was suggested by the Proprium of the External 
mind. 

318. "Because he was of the house and 
lineage of David," signifies that he has a per- 
ception that all the Goods and Truths which 
now enter the Rational Faculty are from the 
Lord, or the Word. "House" denotes the 
origin of a family, and the family relationship 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



159 



Lineage. Interna 


1 wors 


lip. 


rpnrpcpnta flic* pnninnpf inn r»f ( t ond nnrl Tviith 

1 CJJ1 Oot/IlLo L11U LU11 1 UllLLlUli L/l VJTUULl dilLL ilLlLll 


Jer. 31 


: 1 


which is from the Lord. " Lineage " denotes 


Eph. 3 


15 


descent, and here signifies the descent of 


Heb. 7 


: 3 


'David, or the Divine Iruth irom above 


Ps. 133 


: 3 


intn thp Tnfpvnfil minrl fmrl tlipnpp intn thp 

111LU L11C5 J.11LL/1 llcl/1 illlilLl, clllLl LllCllL/O 111LU LilL/ 


Rev 2 


. 1U 


Rational Faculty. 






To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being 


Luke 2 


: 5 


great with child. 






319 Bv "JoseDh" o-oino- to "Bethlehem" 


Luke 2 


: l 


4< to be taxed with Marv " is signified that 


Luke 2 


: 3 


wnrc:liir> iq tn bp vpnrlpvpfl frnm flip AflpppHnn 

VVUlolllJJ lo LU KJG 1C11LIL1CLL 11 Lf 111 LilC XxllL/L/LlUll 


Ps. 29 : 


1 


at Irnnn ann T vntn 'whipn i'q pnnininprl in flip 

vjl v J Lf LJ 11 cl/llLL JL1U.L11 W 111L11 lib LU11 1 L>lilt/Ll 111 L11C 


Ps. 29 : 


2 


"Rational Lacnltv To liav a " tax " ^ionifipc: 


Ps. 76 : 


22 


tn TPiTflpr wnrtihin nnrl u lYTarv " flip PQi^miQprl 

l/L> ICllUul W Ul OliiUj clllLL i.VJLcll V , L11C Co U\J LloLU 


Jer. 2 : 


2 


"witp QiOTiiTiPci trip ATTPPfinn r»f f-l-nnrl anrl TVnth 

WHO, OlglllllCo LllO xxllCLLlUll Ul VJTUUU. clilLl -L1U.L11 


Hos, 2 


19 


in flip T^vfprnal minrl in whi^h thp ctntp nf 

111 tllC JL_iA.LCl lldl 111 111 LI ^ 111 W111L-11 LllO BldLC UI 


Hos. 2 


20 


[Reformation has been fulfilled. This worship 


Is. 27 : 


13 


n o from intprnnl nintivpQ nnrl prmdicitc: in ■nrn- 

lo 11 LUll lllUClllCll lllUlly Ci3j ctllLl bUIlolJ5Lo 111 UIU 


Rev. 7 


12 


Tnnnn nnnyntir&n onrl hnmilintinn honvt hofViyn 
1UU.1JLL ctLlUl ctl lUll tUlll 11 LlllllllclLlUll Ul HOcll L UOlUl O 


Ps. 145 


14 


the Lord, and True Love for the Neighbor, in 


Zech. 8 


: 16 


the constant duties of daily life, independent 


Zech. 8 


17 


of specific religious rites and ceremonies. A 


Heb. 9 : 


1 


daily life according to true doctrine from the 


Heb. 9 


11 


Word constitutes Internal worship. 


Heb. 9 : 


12 


320. " Being great with child," also signifies 






this state of Internal worship which is formed 


Luke 1 : 


15 


by the Affection for Truths of the Word by 


Deut. 7 


9 


obedience to them as they are given in the 


Ps. 69 : 


36 



160 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Greatness. 



Progression, 



Phil. 2 : 10 
Luke 1 : 32 
Deut. 7 ; 13 
Judges 5 ; 31 
Lev. 26 : 3,4 

Luke 2: 6 



Is. 14 : 24 
§ 273 
Jer. 18 : 2 
Acts 22 ; 10 
Ezek. 12 ; 23 
Ezek. 12 : 28 
Job 30: 16 
Heb. 10 : 32 
Heb, 10 : 35 
Heb. 10 : 36 
Heb. 10 : 37 
Eccles. 11 : 5 
Ps. 40 : 8 
Deut. 12 : 7 
Joel 2 : 21 

Is. 11 : 1 

Zech. 6 : 12 
Zech. 6 : 13 



Literal Sense. "Great " is predicated of Good ? 
and "being great with child," signifies the 
formation of principles of Good in the will/by 
means of Truth in the understanding, derived 
from the Literal Sense of the Word. 

And so it was, that, while they were there, the 
days were accomplished that she should be 
delivered. 

321. "And so it was," is equivalent to the 
expression " And God said," with its Internal 
meaning. " That while they were there," signi- 
fies that in this state of regeneration concerning 
the Rational Faculty, " the days were accom- 
plished that she should be delivered," in which 
the time of travail and labor will arrive, when 
from this state of combat between the Internal 
and External principles of the mind, the hour 
of delivery shall come, for the Eational Faculty 
is being formed within the " Mother," or the 
Affection for the spiritual truths which have 
been received by the External mind from the 
Literal Sense of the Word. 

322. It will be observed that in this place 
where the birth and development of the Eational 
Faculty are being treated of in the Internal 
Sense of the Word, that the different words 
have relation to this same principle. Thus 
"Joseph," and "Bethlehem," as well as the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



161 



The descent of spiritual principles. 



Conception. 



Child which is being formed within the mother 
Mary, each have reference to spiritual principles 
concerning the Rational Faculty. " Joseph" 
is not the father of the yet unborn child, and 
therefore no life emanates from him, and the 
Rational Faculty has no life in itself, because in 
the order of regeneration, spiritual life descends 
from above, or through Inmost Principles. 

323. During this Second Day, the Know- 
ledges from the Literal Sense of the Word 
acquired in the External memory, are taking 
the form of man in the womb of the Virgin 
Mary, for the conception, gestation and birth 
of the Lord in the spiritual principles of the 
mind, by the law of spiritual correspondence, 
are in the order of the conception, gestation, 
and birth of the physical frame into this physical 
world. 

324. The Rational Faculty is vivified by the 
Father, but the " Mother " is the Affection for 
the scientifi.es and knowledges of the Literal 
Sense of the Word, which have been acquired 
by means of the external or material senses of 
the spiritual body. 

325. Conception is the first life of the 
Rational Faculty, and it receives this first life 
from the Lord flowing through the Internal 
mind into the Affection of knowledges and 
sciences belonging to the External mind. The 



Matt. 1 : 18 



James 1 : 17 
Rev. 3 : 12 

Ps. 22 : 27 
Ps. 103 : IS 
Jer. 15 : 11 
Jer. 1 : 5 
Is. 49 : 1 
Is. 44 : 2 
Is. 44 ; 21 
Is. 44 : 23 
Hos. 9 : 11 
Jag. 1 : 15 
John 15 : 26 
Ps. 139 : 13 
Is. 11 : 9 
Is. 7 : 16 
Is. 8 : 4 



Mark 9 : 1 
Hab. 3 : 3 
Rom. 1 : 4 
Dan. 1 : 4 



162 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The body of the unborn infant. 



ray< 



Rev. 7 : 17 
John 10 : 11 
1 Cor.15 : 38 
Is. 61 : 10 
Is. 61 : 11 
Job 29 ; 14 



Ezek. 19 : 10 

Ezek. 19 : 11 
1 John 4 : 16 
Matt. 12 : 49 
Matt. 12 : 50 
Luke 8 : 21 

Luke 2 : 6 



Luke 18 : 1 

Ps. 5:2 

Ps. 4 : 1 

1 Thess. 5 : 
17 

Luke 18 : 35, 
43 

Ezek. 43 : 2 
Prov. 28 : 9 



Life from the Lord within this Affection for 
knowledge and science from the Word, gives 
to the Eational Faculty a body which is being 
formed within this Affection, or " Mother," and 
this body which is being formed, clothes the 
Internal principle of the mind which is within, 
as the body of the unborn infant clothes its 
spiritual body, which, although quiescent, is 
already conceived within the mother. 

326. The Mother " is not the sciences and 
knowledges themselves which are stored in the 
External memory, but is the Affection for them. 
No one can become truly rational unless he is 
actuated by a principle of Affection, and this 
Affection is the true essential Maternal Life, 
for " Mother" in the Internal Sense signifies 
Affection for the Truth, and it is in this Second 
State of regeneration that "the days were accom- 
plished that she should be delivered'' 

PRAYER. 

327. During the Second Day of Creation, the regen 
erating man continually calls upon the Lord for help to 
overcome the evil of his Proprium. Prayer is dis- 
coursing with the Lord by means of the Truths of the 
Word, in which there is an internal intuition which 
flows into the perceptions in such a manner that the 
Internal mind is opened toward the Lord, if the suppli- 
cation contains no desire to favor the Love of Self. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



163 



Answer to prayer. 



A mountain. 



328. When the Rational Faculty is illuminated by 
the perception of the Interior Truths of the Word, the 
regenerating man is taught not to pray for anything 
which would be contrary to the laws of Divine Order, 
and in regard to the affairs of this world, he learns to 
trust so implicitly in the Divine Providence, that in 
-all his personal relations to others, he endeavors to 
fulfil the law of Love to the Neighbor, and in the 
breathing of his spiritual lungs he constantly whispers, 
Teach me to do thy will ; for thou art my God. Thy 
Spirit is good ; lead me into the land of uprightness" 
and he has no anxiety for the morrow, and utters no 
complaint against the Mercy of the Lord. 

■329. In his struggles against his evils he acknow- 
ledges his need of Divine Help, for he has learned that 
he is helpless in himself alone, and in the progress of 
his regeneration it is revealed to him that " all things 
are possible with God," and that " Whosoever shall say 
unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be cast into 
the sea ; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall 
believe that those things which he saith shall come 
to pass ; he shall have ivhatsover he saith." 

330. A " mountain," m a good sense, signifies Love 
to the Lord, or the Celestial Principle, and in an evil 
sense it signifies the Love of Self. The "sea" in which 
""waters" terminate and are collected, signifies the most 
exterior terminations of the Divine Truth of the Literal 
Sense of the Word in the Material Principle of the 
External mind, and in the evil sense it signifies hell, 
and thus the " mountain " of Self Love which rears its 
head above all the " earth " is to be cast down even to 
Jiell, and thus removed, if the prayer is sincere, and if 



Ps. 139 : 1 
Ps. 139 : 2 
Ps. 139 : 3 
Ps. 139 : 4 
Matt, 6 : 31 
Matt. 6 : 32 
Rom. 13^ 14 
2 Cor. 8 : 21 
James 2 : 8 
Lam. 3 : 56 
Ps. 143 : 10 
Matt. 7 : 11 
Matt. 6 : 34 
Phil. 2 : 14 

Ps. 35 : 1 
-Ps. 86 : 1 
Ps. 12 : 1 
Ps. 142 
Ps. 22 : 11 
Mark 9 : 23 
Mark 10: 27 
Mark 11 : 23 
Matt. 21 : 21 
Matt. 21 : 22 
John 16 : 23 
John 16 : 24 

Ps. 30 : 7 
Is. 2 : 2 
Ezek 11 : 23 
Luke 8 : 32 
Ps. 72 : 8 
Is. 42: 10 
Zech. 9 : 10 
Rev. 14 : 7 
Matt. 8 : 32 
Amos 6 : 1 
Is. 54 : 10 
Ps. 46 : 2 



| 



164 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Vain repetitions. 



The Lord's Prayer, 



1 Cor. 13 ; 2 



1 Thess. 5 
15 



Matt. 7 : 8 

Matt. 6 : 5 
Matt. 6 : 6 
Matt. 6 : 7 
Matt. 6 : 8 



1 John 5 : 14 
Lev. 1 : 2 
Lev. 1 : 3 
Lev. 19 : 5 
Ps, 34 : 18 
Ps. 102 : 17 
Ps. 13 : 3 
Luke 17 : 5 
Is. 40 : 29 
Matt. 5 : 44 
Luke 6 : 27 
Luke 6 : 28 
1 John 5 : 15 
1 Pet. 5 : 6 
1 Pet. 5 : 7 



faith is made alive by living according to the Truths 
of the Word, for true Faith implies obedience to the 
commands of the Decalogue. Thus the prayer will be 
answered, for " every one that asketh, receiveth." 

331. Such prayer is not made "standing in the 
synagogues and in the corners of the streets," but 
within the mind, independent of the observation of 
other men. Neither are " vain repetitions " made, for 
the Rational Faculty perceives that " your Father 
knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask 
Him." 

332. A truly rational man would not pray that the 
will of another person might be changed, because he 
knows that the Lord cannot violate the freedom of 
the will of man through Eternity, for no man can be 
regenerated without his own desire and co-operation 
with Divine Principles. The most that a regenerating 
man can pray for, is Divine Light to illumine his path 
and the increase of his Affection for the Truth, which 
is the strength of his spiritual life, and the Lord per- 

I mits that the man shall be the instrument by which 
i his prayers are answered, through a life of obedience 
to the Truths of the Word. Prayer denotes humility 
of heart in acknowledging all Power and Life to 
emanate from the Lord, which must be a constant 
recognition on the part of man through Eternity. 

THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

333. The Lord's Prayer which appears so brief in the Literal 
Sense of the Word, contains within it all the principles of Heaven- 
ly Life which man is to attain, and the quality of the lives of 
angelic men is formed by their perception of the Internal Prin- 
ciples within these words. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



165 



interior principles. The heavenly kingdom. 

334. Within the contents of this Prayer more Interior Princi- 
ples will be revealed to the regenerating man in proportion as his 
thought is open toward Heaven ; but with those whose spiritual 
thoughts are closed by the Love of Self, the Interior principles do 
not appear within the Literal Sense. Within its words, all the 
Spiritual Principles follow each other in the Divine Order of Re- 
generation, each depending on the preceding principle in a series 
from the highest or inmost, and adding successively until the in- 
ternal principles become Infinite, because they proceed from the 
Lord who is the Word. Thus this Prayer contains all the prin- 
ciples of the Word, and is the Lord Himself breathing in the In- 
ternal mind of the regenerating man. 

335. The " Beginning " of Spiritual Life is created by Our 
Father which is in Heaven, from whom the universal Heaven 
exists, the Divine Love within the Word by whom the Internal 
mind is to be nourished and sustained. Hallowed be Thy name 
is a recognition of the Holiness of the Word in the mind and life 
of the man who obeys its Precepts. " Name " signifies the quality 
of the Divine Love and Wisdom, or of the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
•expressed in the Word. The name of a person on this earth calls 
before our mental vision all the qualities which we know concern- 
ing his life; and thus all that we know of the character of the 
Lord is by means of the Word, which is His Name. This Word 
we are to make holy, or hallow His Name, by the knowledge de- 
rived from the study of its Literal and Internal Sense. " For 
there is none other name under heaven given among men where- 
by we must be saved* 

336. Thy Kingdom come, expresses the desire to have the 
Divine Truths of the Word enter our will and understanding, 
filling our minds with affection for them so that we shall be will- 
ing to give up our Self-love and Self-intelligence ; making us 
willing to take up this cross, and to suffer, in order that our pride 



*Acts 4 : 12 



166 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Mental and physical pain. Daily bread, 

may be subdued, and this cannot take place without the External 
mind experiencing anguish, for all mental pain exists only in the 
External mind, or spiritual body, just as all physical pain exists 
only in the physical body. "Through Eternity the Lord seeks to 
enter the life of every immortal creature, but the culmination of 
this desire can only be answered by the manifestation of the 
Kingdom of God in our own lives, so that others may be led to- 
ward the Light by our silent and unobtrusive example, rather 
than influenced toward evil. Thus the Heavenly Kingdom will 
come to all who receive the Divine Love and Wisdom which flows 
from the Lord by the Word. 

337. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. The 
Will of the Lord is Infinite Love and Mercy toward all His 
creatures. The Word is the expression of His Will to man, and 
we are to Do, or obey the commandments of the Word. " Ye are 
my friends if ye do whatsoever 1 command you!' " If ye abide 
in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, 
and it shall be done unto you!' 

338. The Internal mind, or " Heaven," is not opened to the per- 
ception of any man until he begins to live the life of regeneration. 
His External mind; or " earth," is then to be regenerated by the 
Living Truths of the Literal Sense of the Word, so that his exter- 
nal conduct in all his acts, from the Heavenly Principles within 
his motives, shall fulfil the law of Love to the Neighbor, and thus 
to him the Literal Sense, or " earth " of the Word, will be seen to 
contain Living Heavenly Principles. 

339. Give us this day our daily bread. The Lord gives 
freely to every man who receives the Heavenly Principles of the 
Word in obedience, from which results Affection for its Truths- 
To receive the Word into the life is to receive the Lord, and "this- 
day " refers to the quality of the life in this State of regeneration,, 
and ''■ daily bread " refers to the perpetual supply of heavenly 
manna, or spiritual food from the Word. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



167 



Heavenly bread. The forgiveness of sins, 

In " this day/' the regenerating man will recognize that life and 
thought are given every moment by the Lord, and this perception 
will so fill the mind with happiness, that he will have neither care 
nor anxiety about the future, and especially concerning the affairs 
of this world, excepting to do his part faithfully, in whatever humble 
or dignified position in which he may be placed. 

340. The " bread which cometh down from Heaven " is the 
Divine Human Principle of the Word, which is Celestial food, or 
Love to the Lord and to the Neighbor. Spiritual bread " or 
meat is Goodness, or Affection for the Word, or a Living Faith. 
"Blessed are they ivhich do hunger and thirst after righteousness : 
for they shall be filled" 

341. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 
The Lord never withholds His Forgiveness nor Mercy from any 
person, but the perverse and unregenerated man averts himself 
from the Lord. By the strong force of the Infinite Love of the 
Lord, He draws men to Himself by the W T ord, and enlightens 
their minds to perceive the gracious invitations, which in the In- 
ternal Sense, teach that the Divine Mercy is never removed from 
any man, but the evils of men are like dense clouds which con- 
ceal the Lord, or the Internal Sense of the Word, from their 
view, because their Internal minds and spiritual perceptions are 
closed. 

342. The Forgiveness of sins or trespasses, implies the giving 
up of the Love of Self, and thus the giving up of sin. Evils and 
falses are not washed away by a sovereign decree of the Word, 
but they are to be fought against and successively removed, and 
there is no other forgiveness or remission of sins by the Lord. 
The regenerating man is continually falling of himself, but is con- 
stantly raised up by the Lord, in order that he may progress in the 
attainment of spiritual life, and the Divine Truth, or Blood of the 
Word is incessantly shed, by the strength of which victory is ob- 
tained, for " vAthout shedding of blood there is no remission" 



168 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Temptation. Evil spirits. 

Therefore he who desires the Divine Love and Wisdom to enter 
his will and understanding, must give up his trespasses, shun all 
evil, look to the Lord, and do unto others as he would have them 
do to him. 

343. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 
EVIL. The Lord never leads any man into temptation, but in all 
our struggles and combats against our evils He is closely present 
with us to strengthen and deliver, although it appears as though 
we are left entirely to ourselves, and thus this expression " lead 
us not into temptation " is written according to Appearance, in 
order that the natural mind may acknowledge a Guiding Hand. 

344. Instead of the Lord tempting man, He is continually de- 
livering him from evil, as far as it is possible without violating 
his freedom. The perception of the presence of Divine Truth in 
the regenerating man, causes the evil principles in the External 
mind to give pain until they are removed, just as the living nerve 
within a decayed tooth causes suffering when it is exposed, and 
the tooth must either be extracted, or the decayed substance 
removed, and the cavity cleansed and filled with a material which 
will resist corruption. 

345. When a man is undergoing temptation, prayers alone will 
not deliver him nor save him from yielding, notwithstanding that 
they may be ardently poured forth, for in the combats of tempta- 
tion, all the evils which manifest themselves are to be resisted, 
fought against, and overcome. The united prayers of the whole 
world would not save a single man from his sins, without his own 
volition and action. 

346. All temptations in the External mind are infused by evil 
spirits from hell, or from his own evils and falses, and in all his 
spiritual battles he should fight as from himself with the power 
given him, because at the time of conflict he is not conscious of 
Divine Help, but in order to keep the door open for Divine 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 169 



Overcoming evil. Revelation. 

Strength to flow in and aid him, he must inwardly acknowledge 
and believe that the Lord is his Helper, otherwise he will be filled 
with pride and self-righteousness, and the powers of evil will gain 
the victory. 

347. As evil is to be overcome, so that the temptation will 
cease, if a man should give himself up to prayer, and not to the 
active life of resistance by the determination of his Will, from in- 
terior motives, he co^.d not be aided in eradicating his evils, and 
thus be saved from them, which is the end for which the Word 
has been given to man. He who thus conquers in temptations 
knows that it is the Lord within who overcomes. 

348/ If in the state of temptation, a man should fall upon his 
knees and spend the night in prayer, awaiting a special inspira- 
tion of strength, instead of at once resisting the evil insinuations, 
— if the temptation should not cease thereby, he would be likely 
to entertain doubt concerning the Divine assistance, because he 
does not seem to be heard. Sometimes on such occasions, if he 
slackens his resistance, he partly yields to the temptation, where- 
as he should resist evil with the weapon the Lord has placed in his 
hands, the Power to Resist, if he will use it, for the Lord answers 
prayer by the means which He clearly indicates. The Answer to 
Prayer is the revelation to the mind, of the means to be used in 
overcoming evil, which is only made known by Truths from 
the Word brought forth into life, and thus He delivers us from 
evil. 

349. Revelation concerning the Divine Truth of the Word is an 
internal perception of its spiritual nature. By " Revelation " is 
meant the illumination of the Rational Faculty when the Word 
is read, by which its Living Truths are perceived. No in- 
spiration of the Word exists until its Truths are appropriated by 
the life of the man who reads it and stores it in his memory, for 
they who are actuated by spiritual affection, and desire to know the 



170 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Earthly trials. The Third Day, 

Truth, are clearly taught from the Word ; but they who have riot 
broken away from the Love of Self, cannot be taught the Divine 
Principles of the Word, and can only be confirmed in the Appearance 
of Truth of the Literal Sense, in which they have been instructed 
from infancy. 

350. The Trials and Temptations of the Second Day are prin- 
cipally concerning the things of this world, and are not the 
spiritual temptations which must be met with in the future pro- 
gress of the Life of Regeneration. 



THE THIED DAY OF CEEATION ; 

OR, 

THE THIED STATE OF EEGENEEATION. 

" After two days will He revive us : in the Third Day Me will raise 
us up, and ice shall live in His sight. 

" Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." 

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven 
be gathered unto one place, and let the dry- 
land appear ; and it was so. 

351. The regenerating man now begins to 
perceive that there is both an Internal and 
External principle of the mind, which are re- 
ceptive of their corresponding principles in the 
Word of God ; and that Love and Wisdom 
descend from the Lord through the Internal 
principles into the External, although this 
order is contrary to appearance, because Truths 



Hos. 6 : 2 
Hos. 6 : 3 
Gen. 1 : 9 

Ps. 57 : 1 
Ps. 57 : 2 
Ps. 57 : 3 
Ps. 57 : 10 
Ps. 57 : 11 
Is. 37 ; 30 
Is. 37 31 
Is. 44 : 19 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



171 



The source of the Literal Sense. 



Perception, 



are first learned from the Literal Sense of the 
Word which is external, but the affection for 
these Truths, from the Internal principle, brings 
them into the life, so that the Internal Sense 
of the Word is perceived as the source from 
which the external Literal Sense exists. 

352. All principles from the Word which are 
learned and received by the mind of the regen- 
erating man are called " Scientifics." These 
are the " waters under the heaven," and the 
place where they are gathered together, is the 
External memory, and these knowledges will 
be called forth thence by the Lord when they 
are needful in his spiritual progress. The 
" dry land " is the External principle of the 
mind which has been separated from the 
Internal principle by the Rational Faculty, 
which is the " Firmament" which divides the 
"waters" during the Second Day. "And it 
was so," signifies that the regenerating man 
perceives that these "waters" are stored in 
the External memory, and that they have been 
gathered there by the External mind. ^ 



And God called the dry land earth : and the 
gathering together of the waters called he 
seas : and God saw that it was good. 

353. "God called" signifies perception in the 
mind of the regenerating man, that the "dry 



Is. 44 : 20 
Is. 44 : 24 
Is. 44 : 2i> 
Is. 44 : 28 
Is. 45 : 1 
Is. 45 : 2 
Is. 45 : 3 

Hab. 2 : 14 
Num. 24 : 7" 

Ex. 15 : 3 
Jer. 23: 3 
Jer. 23 : 4 
Jer. 23 : 5 
Jer. 23 : 6> 
Ex. 14 : IS 
Ps. 95 : 5 
Gen. 1 : 6 
Is. 51 : 15 

Ps. 33 : 7 
Deut . 28 : S- 



Gen. 1 : 10 



Ps. 50 : i 



172 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Seas. 



A well of water. 



Ps. 119 : 64 
Ps. 73 : 69 

S?s. 24 : 2 
Rom. 9 : 7 
Ps. 78 : 16 
Is. 41 : 18 
Ps. 36 : 

<3en. 24 ; 13 
Zech. 13 : 1 
Ps. 84 : 6 
Is. 12 : 3 

John 4 : 7 
John 4 : 6 
■John 4: 13 

Ps. 110 : 7 
Ps. 42 : 2 
Is. 35 : 7 
John 7 : 37 
-John 4: 10 
."Zech. 14 : 8 
Rev. 7 : 16 
'Cant. 4 : 15 
Rev. 7 : 17 

Ps. 128 : 5 



land" or "Earth," is the External mind, which 
is so designated at the " beginning " of regen- 
eration. The " waters" or knowledges of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, are called " Seas," 
which are gathered together in the External 
memory. " Waters," y " Kivers," and "Foun- 
tains," throughout the Word, denote know- 
ledges of Truth, and " Seas," denote Scientifics, 
which are collective Truths in the complex. 

354. A Well, or Fountain, signifies the Word, 
because it contains " water," or Truth, and 
throughout its pages this meaning will be 
apparent to the thoughtful reader, especially 
in the spiritual narrative of the Woman of 
Samaria at the Well of Jacob. This " Well " 
with its water, signifies the Literal Sense of 
the Word. " Whosoever drinketh of this water 
shall thirst again''' This "Water" must first 
be imbibed by the natural mind, and it will 
cause a "thirst" or desire for more interior 
knowledge which will lead to the revealing of 
the Internal Sense, or " Living Water" signi- 
fied in the following verse, " But whosoever 
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall 
never thirst ; but the water that 1 shall give him 
shall be in him a well of ivater springing up 
into Everlasting Life? 

355. "And God saw that it was good," signi- 
fies the perception which is being implanted in 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. m 



Grass. 



Green pastures. 



the Rational Faculty that this work of regen- 
eration and the Revelation of the Internal 
Sense is from the Lord who alone is Good. 

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, 
the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yield- 
ing fruit after his kind : and it was so. 

356. During the preceding states of regen- 
eration, the " earth," or External mind, has 
been preparing to receive Heavenly Seeds from 
the Word, so that Good and True principles 
may be produced, and now the Lord causes 
the tender "grass" to spring forth from this 
"earth." "Grass," in the Word, denotes 
Scientific Truth by which the Spiritual Truth 
of the Word is confirmed, and as grass serves 
for food to animals, so the Scientific Truth of 
the Word serves for the spiritual nourishment 
of the mind, or spiritual body. The Scientific 
Principles of the Word are not physical or 
material science. 

357. " He causeth the grass to grow for the 
cattle" " Cattle," signifies the Natural Affec- 
tions of the External mind, to which "Grass" 
or Scientific food serves for nourishment. The 
Literal Sense of the Word is the spiritual 
pasture for the "cattle" of the External mind 
to feed in. "Green pastures" signify Living 
Truth, for grass, when it ceases to be green, 



Ps. 106 : 1 
Ps. 73 : 1 
Luke 18 : m 

Gen. 1 : 11 



Ex. 15 : 20- 

Ex. 23 : 20 

Ps. 80 : 9 

Ps. 126 : 6 

Ps. . 107 : 2,7 

Ps. 32 : 20 

Ps. 85 : 11 

It. 44 : 4 

Is. 61 : 11 

Ps. 65 : 10 

Deut. 11 : I& 

1 Kings 18 r 
5 

Rev. 9 : 4 
Zech. 10 : 1 
Ps. 119 : 91 
Ps. 119 : 144 

Ps. 104 : 14 
Gen. 9: 9, 10- 
Ps. 148 : 10 
Ps. 147 ; 9 

P8. 100 : 3 
John 10 : 9> 
Pa. 23 : 2 



174 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The herb. 



Seed. 



withers up and is dried. But this " grass " is 
not " green," because it is for the natural affec- 
tions of the External mind, and as yet has not 
much life in it. In the illustration of the Five 
Loaves and Two Fishes, it is said, " Now there 
was much grass in the place" where the scien- 
tifics or knowledges of the Literal Sense of the 
Word are signified. 

358. Next in order it is said " the herb yield- 
ing seed," by which is signified also the scientific 
principle which goes forth into use or activity, 
by which is meant that the Truth of the Literal 
Sense is applied to life. This " herb " must be 
rendered productive by being planted in the 
" earth," or External mind, which must receive 
the heat and light of the Spiritual Sun so as to 
grow to its maturity, and thereby yield its seed, 
and thus these scientifics from the Word become 
multiplied, and the knowledges perpetuated. 
" He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, 
and herb for the service of man; that he may bring 
forth food out of the earth." Thus spiritual 
nourishment is derived from the Truths of 
the Word which have been implanted within 
the External mind, or " earth," the herb" 
signifying the Truths which are first produced 
in the life of the regenerating man. 

359. " Seed," in the W orcl, denotes its Truth, 
and the Truth of the Word does not possess 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



175 



The seed of the Word. 



Sowing seed. 



Life for man until it is implanted in the Ex- 
ternal mind. The Truth, or "seed" of the 
Word, as it lays in the letters which give it 
expression, has no more life without the proper 
soil in which to grow, than the corresponding 
seeds of the vegetable kingdom would have if 
lying dry upon a barren rock. These seeds do 
not sprout and bring forth the tender plant 
until they are placed within and take root in 
the earth, where the moisture and salts of the 
soil permeate the fibres, while the influence of 
the heat and light of the sun causes the germ 
to burst its casement, and shoot upwards to- 
ward the light, while its root becomes firmly 
fixed within the ground. 

360. The Truths of the Word first become 
inrooted when the regenerating man begins to 
acknowledge and believe them, for previous to 
this State they have not taken root. The 
Truths which have been previously received 
and retained in the memory, have been merely 
inseminated, or sown like seed scattered upon 
the ground, and harrowed in, for it does not 
burst forth and take root until the regenerat- 
ing man makes the Truths of the Word sprout 
by living them from inward motives, which is 
called the Good of Love, because his life is 
then actuated by a principle of Affection which 
is derived from the Divine Love, and is there- 



is. 55 : 11 



Num. 20 : 5 
John 12 : 24 
Pa. 32 : 4 
Luke 8 : 6 
Mark 4 : 6 
Matt. 13 ; 23 
Ps. SO : 9 

Gen. 8 : 22 

Ezek. 36 : 8 
Jer. 12 : 2 

Eccles. 11 : 6 
John 14 ; 1 
Luke 8 : 13 
Prov. 11 : 18 
Jer. 4 : 3 
2 Cor. 9 : 6 
Hos. 10 : 12 
Mark 4 : 10 
Hos. 2 : 23 
Job. 14 : 7 
Prov. 11 : 31 
Zeeh 10 : 9 
Jer. 33 : 8 
Jer. 33 : 0 , 



176 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Affection of Truth. 



The poor in spirit 



Ex. 33 : 19 
Prov. 2 : 9 



Eph, 5 : 23 
Eph. ft : 24 
Eph. 5 : 2S 
Eph. 5 : 29 
Eph. 5 : 30 
Eph. 5 : 31 
Eph. 5 : 32 

Ex. 24 : 7 
Je.\ 42 : 6 
Acts 20 : 35 
Ps. 112 : 5 
Matt. 5 : 42 
Luke 11 : 41 
Ps. 41 : 1 
Matt. 19 : 21 
Ter. 22: 16 
Luke 6 : 20 
Ps. 82 : 4 
Zeph. 3 : 12 
Ps. 9 : 18 
Rev. 21 : 6 
Matt, 5 ; 3 

Ps. 68 : 10 
Is. 41 : 17 
Ps. 63 : 1 
Ps. 65 : 9 
Is. 44 : 3 
Rom. 13 : 10 
Zech. 10 : 12 



fore Good, for Good is from the Divine Love, 
and Truth is from the Divine Wisdom. 

THE TWO AFFECTIONS. 



361. There are Two Affections existing in the regen- 
erating man. The Affection of (or derived from) 
Good, and the Affection of Tkuth, the former being 
as the husband, and the latter as the wife, and these Two 
Principles, or Affections, are to be conjoined in the will 
and understanding, as husband and wife, thus consti- 
tuting the Heavenly Marriage, from which proceeds 
Spiritual Life. 

362. The Affection of Tkuth first exists in the 
order of regeneration, in which man is actuated by 
a principle of obedience to the Literal Sense of the 
Word, and he attends to the external acts of charity, 
such as doing good to every one whom he imagines to 
be a neighbor, especially to the poor, because they call 
themselves poor, in consequence of being destitute of 
worldly wealth, not being aware that by " poor" in the 
Word are meant those who are spiritually poor ; — they 
who know and confess in heart that they have nothing 
of Good and Truth from themselves, but that all things 
are freely given them. " Blessed are the poor in spirit : 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

363. Thus the " poor " are those who desire instruc- 
tion from the Word, because they know that they have 
no intelligence in themselves, and the mind is gradually 
led to perceive the spiritual principle within the natu- 
ral expression, and thus the idea of Love to the Neigh- 
bor, or the Affection of Truth, progresses from the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



177 



The Affection of Good. 



Charity, 



external thought of a person, or from the Literal Sense 
of the Word to the Internal Spiritual Principle, which 
is the Neighbor to be loved, and the Affection for this 
principle of the Word, is meant by the Affection of 
Truth, or Truth warmed into obedience. 

364. The Affection of Truth consists in doing good 
from the Love of the Truth of the Word, first from the 
Apparent Truth, or Literal Sense, and afterward from 
the Truth of the Internal or True Sense of the Word, 
and this Affection properly belongs to the Understand- 
ing of the regenerating man. 

365. The Affection of Good consists in doing good 
from the Love of Good, and properly belongs to the 
Will, and is grounded in the principle of Celestial love, 
or Love to the Lord, and in the order of regeneration 
it succeeds the Affection of Truth. A person who is in 
the Affection of Good, has an immediate perception of 
what is Good and True without reasoning if it is so or 
not, similar to the principle of perception which filled 
"Adam," in the "generations of old." In all his acts he 
delights in obedience from his Affection for the Word, 
or what is the same thing, from his Love to the Lord. 

366. Those, however, who are in the Affection of 
Truth for the sake of Truth and Spiritual Life, when 
they hear or read religious doctrines, search the Word 
to prove whether they are true or false, and do not 
remain in false teachings, because they are led to the 
True Light from the Word. They become so filled 
with thoughts of charity toward others, that they do 
not condemn those who differ from them in religious 
belief, and recognize what is true in the opinions of 
others. 



178 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Inanimate works. 



Correspondences. 



Gen. 1 : 11 

Gen. 9 : 3 

Job 27: 4 
Ps. 145 : 11 
Jas. 2 : 22 

Ps. 88 : 4 
Cor. 8 : 2 



2 Kings 19 : 
26 

2 Kings 19: 
27 

2 Kings 19 
29 

2 Kings 19 : 
30 



Is. 30 : 23 
Matt. 13 : 8 
la. 55 : 12 

Heb. 6 : 14 
Gen. 22 : 17 
Ezek. 36 : 30 
Ezek. 36 : 35 



The herb yielding seed. 

367. In continuing the subject of the "herb 
yielding seed" in the man whose regenerating 
life has been progressing from the Second State, 
he now begins to talk devoutly and reverently 
concerning religious things, and to do good 
actions, which are the external works of charity, 
but which as yet are inanimate, because they 
have no inward principle, and therefore he 
supposes them to originate in himself. 

368. These good actions are called the 
"grass," and the "herb yielding seed," because 
the scientific principles of the External mind 
must first be formed from the Literal Sense of 
the Word, in order that the "seed" may take 
root. When the " earth," or External mind, is 
thus prepared to receive Celestial seed from 
the Word, so that Internal Good and True 
principles may be produced, the Lord causes 
the "tender grass" to spring forth : then more 
productive principles succeed which bear seed 
in themselves, the "herb yielding seed ;" and 
next follow principles of Affection which be- 
come fruitful. "And the fruit tree yielding 
fruit after his kind." 



CORRESPONDENCES. 



369. Every object in Universal Nature represents in some 
manner the Spiritual Principles of the Lord's Kingdom in Heaven 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



179 



Names of physical objects. A microcosm. 

or in the mind of man, because the Natural Kingdom derives 
its origin and existence from the Spiritual Kingdom, just as the 
physical body derives its form and existence from the spiritual 
body which it clothes, or as the Literal Sense of the Word exists 
from its Internal Sense. 

370. Thus the Spiritual Principles of the Word throughout, are 
represented by the names of objects in the physical world. All 
principles of the Spiritual World terminate in the Natural World 
of thought as the ultimate effect, and yet nothing in this physical 
world is spiritual in itself, but everything is representative of 
Spiritual Principles. 

371. The Literal Sense of the Word is written entirely by the 
names and qualities of the representative things of the physical 
world ; and by means of the Science of Correspondence, the 
spiritual things which at first so obscurely appear in the Literal 
Sense, are in due order brought plainly before the perception of 
the regenerating man. The Science of Correspondence is a firmly 
established Principle which is of universal application, based 
upon the interior signification of all objective things. It is inherent 
in the etymology of words, in the qualities of all objects, and in 
the names of persons when mentioned in the Word, and also in 
the names of places in which these characteristic persons reside. 
From these names in the Word, which first exist there, earthly 
localities are named. Thus the city of Jerusalem is so called, be- 
cause such a city exists in the Word, and scriptural names are 
given to men because they first exist in the Word. 

372. Throughout the Word, the man within whom spiritual 
life has begun, is compared to the objects in the Vegetable King- 
dom, and especially to Trees, because the whole Vegetable, as well 
as the Animal and Mineral Kingdom, represent such principles as 
appertain to the spiritual nature of man, for a regenerated man is 
a " Heaven," or Spiritual World in the smallest form : hence the 
mind of man is called a " Microcosm," or little world. 



180 • THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Leaves, flowers and fruit. 



The heart and lungs. 



Ezek. 31 : 3 
Ezek. 31: 4 
Ezek. 31 : 5 
Ezek. 31 : 6 
Ezek. 31 : 7 
Ezek. 31 : 8 
Ezek. 31 : 9 

Ex. 24 : 10 
John 6 : 33 
John 14: 19 
1 Cor 12 : 27 
Rev. 22 : 9 

Eph. 4 : 15 
Eph. 4: 16 
Eph. 2 : 21 
Matt. 12 : 35 
Ezek. 37 : 5 

Lev. 17 : 11 
Lev. 17 : 14 



Ezek. 47 : 12 



Ezek. 34 : 27 
Deut. 20 : 19 



TREES. 

373. In the Word, the regenerating man is 
either compared to, or is called, a " Tree," and 
the successive growths of intelligence, of wis- 
dom, and of life, are compared to the produc- 
tion of leaves, flowers, and fruit. His mind is 
implanted with Divine Good and Truth, the 
Seed of the Word from which the Tree begins. 

374. All things in the physical world have 
some relation to the Human Form, which is 
the Form of the universal Heaven, because its 
Life consists of the Divine Human Principle of 
the Lord in the lives of angels, or regenerated 
men. 

375. All the minute organs of the physical 
frame correspond with the spiritual principles 
of the mind. Nearly every person knows that 
the Heart corresponds to Love, or Affection, 
but it is not generally known that the Lungs 
correspond to Wisdom, or the Understanding. 
The union of the operation of the heart and 
lungs causes the blood to circulate and per- 
petuate the life of the physical frame. 

376. A Tree has its heart. Its leaves corre- 
spond to the lungs in the physical body, and 
they first appear in spring-time, then the blos- 
soms expand from the buds, and finally the 
fruit is formed from the inmost principle of the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



181 



The root of a tree. 



The branches. 



blossom, and the object of the whole life of the 
tree is to yield fruit, or in some form be of use 
to man. 

377. The Leaves act as the lungs or respir- 
atory organs, and aid in the circulation of the 
life-blood of the tree ; and a tree spoiled of its 
leaves will bear no fruit. The Root signifies 
the extension of intelligence from the spiritual 
principle of the Internal mind into the External, 
or " earth," and every Spiritual Tree, or regen- 
erating man must be rooted and grounded in 
the " earth" or Literal Sense of the Word. 

378. The Branches of the Tree signify sen- 
sual and natural Truths in the External mind 
which are derived from the Literal Sense of 
the Word. They signify sensual Truths, be- 
cause the branches of a tree are its most exterior 
limits, as the material principle of the External 
mind of man is his ultimate spiritual limit, his 
corporeal frame being simply a physical machine 
through which he acts. 

379. By the Leaves of a tree are signified 
Eational Truths, or the Truths derived from 
the Word which are received by the Eational 
Faculty of the Mind after the Appearances of 
Truth have been separated from the Genuine 
Truth which is within the Literal Sense. 

380. The Blossoms, or Flowers, signify the 
first Spiritual Truths from the Word which 



Matt. 24 : 32 
Rev. 22 : 2 
Ps. 104 : 16 
Is. 1 : 30 
Jer. 12 : 2 
Job 29 : 19 
Rom. 11 : 16 
Jer. 17 : 8 
Eph. 3 ; 17 

Is. 17 : 6 
Hos. 14 : 6 
John 15 : 2 
Jer. 33 : 15 
Is. 4 : 2 
John 15 : 5 

1 Cor. 9 : 27 



Mark 13 : 28 

Zech. 8 : 3 
John 8 : 32 
John 16 : 7 

Ps. 103 : 15 
Ps. 103 : 16 



182 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The quality of the tree. 



Three classes of trees, 



Ps, 27 : 6 
Lev. 26 : 4 
Matt. 7 : 16 
Matt. 7 : 17 
Matt. 7:18 
Matt. 7 : 19 
Phil, 1 : 11 
Cant. 2 : 3 
Is. 60 ; 13 
Ps. 52 : 8 
Is. 41 : 19 
Zech. 11 : 2 
Ps. 1 : 3 

Gen, 2 : 9 
Gen. 2 : 16 
Gen. 3 : 22 

Eccles. 2 : 5 
Is. C5 : 21 

Is. 44 : 14 

Neh. 5 : 15- 
17 

Is. 44 : 15 
Is. 44 : 16 

Jer. 17 ; 2 

Ps. 132 : 7 
Lev. 26 : 11 



bloom in the Rational Faculty, and the Fruit 
of the tree signifies these Spiritual Truths made 
Living, by being brought forth into act, and 
the fruit 3d elded is according to the "kind" or 
quality of the tree. Such is the representative 
similitude between the fruit-bearing tree, and 
the man who is being regenerated, which may 
be discovered from any passage in the Literal 
Sense of the Word where a tree is being de- 
scribed, either as representative of good or evil 
principles in man. "And he shall be like a tree 
planted by the rivers ofivater, his leaf shall not 
wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." 

381. Trees, in general^ signify perceptions 
and knowledges of Good and Truth from the 
Word in the regenerating man, according to 
the quality of his life, and in the Word they 
are divided into Three Classes : Trees of the 
Garden, or Fruit Trees, Forest Trees, and 
Groves. Trees of the Garden, Vineyard, and 
Orchards, provide fruit for the support of 
physical life, and afford delight to the sense of 
taste. Forest trees provide for the building of 
habitations and furniture for the comfort of 
man, and they also serve for fuel to give 
warmth in the cold seasons, and they furnish 
heat for the preparation of food. Groves afford 
shelter, and are the places where external 
worship is held, before the building of temples 
and tabernacles. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF- GOD. 



183 



Three principles of the Understanding 



■ omparisons. 



382. These Three Divisions of Trees corre- 
spond to the Three Principles of the Under- 
standing : the Inmost Principle, or perception 
of Intellectual things, signified by " gardens" ; 
the Interior Principle, or Perception of Rational 
things, signified by " forest-trees," such as the 
cedars of Lebanon ; and the Exterior Principle, 
or perception of Scientific things, or the know- 
ledges of the Literal Sense of the Word, apper- 
taining to the External mind, signified by 
" groves," and especially by " oak-groves." 

383. All the Comparisons in the Word which 
have been given for illustration, are also repre- 
sentative of Spiritual Principles by the laws 
of correspondence. The regenerating man is 
compared to a Garden in the Word. "And 
the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy 
thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; 
and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and 
like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.'" 

384. The budding and fructification of a tree 
represent the re-birth of man : the growing green 
from the development of the leaves represents 
the First State of Reformation ; the blossom- 
ing represents the Second State, or the next 
before regeneration ; and the fructification, or 
" fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind," repre- 
sents the Third, which is the State itself of the 
regenerating man. who is now bearing fruit. 



184 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Seed in itself. 



Self inspection. 



Is. 45 : 25 
1 John 4 : 6 
Dan. 3 ; 25 



Is. 66 : 12 

Luke 8 : 11 

John 5 : 26 

John 5 : 21 

John 5: 22 

John 5 : 23 

John 5 : 27 

2 Chron. 6 : 
18 

Ps. 112 : 2 
Matt. 23 : 9 



Heb. 



Mark 4: 26 



Mark 4 : 27 



Mark 4 : 23 



385. " Whose seed is in itself," signifies the 
Word of God. All the perceptions of the 
principles of the understanding represented by 
the " fruit tree," are from the Word, which is 
the Human Form the Lord has assumed in the 
natural world of the mind, and these percep- 
tions flow into the Rational Faculty of the 
regenerating man from the Lord through the 
Internal mind. " The Seed is the Word of God" 
which, with its Interior Divine Truth is the 
Son of God. "For as the Father hath life in 
Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have- 
life in Himself" Thus the Seed, which is the 
Word, contains within " Itself" the vital prin- 
ciples of Eternal Life "upon the earth," or 
Literal Sense, in the External mind of the re- 
generating man in its outward principle, signi- 
fied by "upon," which every enlightened person 
may perceive by thoughtful comparison with 
the order of growth in the physical world, and 
looking within his own mental experiences, 
may comprehend why it is written, " And it 
was so." 

386. "So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man 
should cast seed into the ground; and should 
sleep , and rise night and day, and the seed should 
spiking and grow up, he knoiveth not how. For 
the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first 
the Made, then the ear, after that, the full com 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 185 



Sowing the seed. 



The full corn in the ear. 



in the ear." He who sows the Seed is the 
Divine Man of the Word, the Lord Himself ; 
but in this state of regeneration it appears as 
if the Affections of Good and Truth arose from 
some innate principle in himself, and thus 
springs and grows up, " he knoweth not how," 
for thus the Lord permits a man to be led, 
rising gradually from obscure perception to 
clearer light, signified by "night and day." 

387. To the regenerating man it appears as 
though the Lord was sleeping, because he does 
not yet perceive that all his intuitions are in- 
flowings from the Divine Wisdom, and therefore 
it is said according to this State of Appearance, 
that "the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself," 
and the order of regeneration is according to 
natural growth by correspondence with spiritual 
principles. In due order, the Appearance of 
Truth in the Literal Sense, which exists in the 
mind according to the State of the regenerating 
man, will be substituted by the Truth of the 
Internal Sense, as soon as the Rational Faculty 
is developed so that it shall be influenced from 
the Internal rather than from the External 
principles of the Word. 

388. This clearer perception of the Internal 
Sense, or " full corn in the ear," which teaches 
that the " earth " produces nothing " of her- 
self"; that the Literal Sense of the Word 



186 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Bringing forth fruit. 



Progress in resisting evil. 



Juhn 5 : 19 

Col. 1 : 5 
Col. 1 : 6 
Col. 1 : 11 
Gen. 1: 12 



Luke 24: 45 
John 7 : 29 
John 7 : 18 

Gen. 1 : 13 



Ps. 26 : 2 
2 Cor. 13 ; 5 
Luke 14 : 11 
Is. 57 : 15 
Ps. 139 : 21 
Ps. 139 : 22 
Ps. 139 : 23 
Ps. 139 : 24 

1 Pet. 5 : 9 
Ps. 37 : 40 
Is. 50 : 7-8 
Dan, 8 : 26 

2 Kings 20 : 
5 



exists only from the Internal Sense ; that even 
the "Son can do nothing of himself , but ivhat he 
seeth the Father do" but that the "fruit " is 
brought forth by the life from the Internal 
Sense of the Word in the regenerating man, is 
expressed by the following words: " And the 
earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed 
after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose 
seed is in itself, after his kind: And God saw 
that it was good," signifying that the Rational 
Faculty is opened to perceive that these spiritual 
influences are in him from the Lord, and do not 
originate with himself. 

And the Evening and the Morning were the 
Third Day. 

389. This Third State of Regeneration is 
characterized by self-examination, through 
which the regenerating man is led to see his 
hereditary evil and sinfulness, with such humil- 
iation of heart that he feels aversion toward 
each evil as it arises from his Proprium, and 
he rejects it from his life. In this state of 
repentance he carefully resists the return of 
these evils and falses which have been fought 
against, and he constantly looks to the Lord 
by the Word for help, and increases in spiritual 
strength. Thus he progresses from shade to 
light, or from "evening" to " morning" during 
the Third Day. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



187 



The number one. 



The number two, 



NUMBERS. 

390. All Numbers in the Word denote the quality 
of the State of the regenerating or evil principles in 
man, according to the subject which is being described. 
In reference to the First Day of Creation, it treats of 
the " Beginning " and continuation of the spiritual life 
of the regenerating man. The number One signifies 
the conjunction of those principles which form a unity, 
and One day, week, month Or year, denotes a whole 
period of time or state. 

391. The number Two denotes the Heavenly Mar- 
riage of the will and understanding, and also labor and 
combat as described in the illustration of the Second 
Day of Creation, between theProprium and the spiritual 
principles which are flowing in from the Internal mind. 
The number Two also denotes the separation between 
the Internal and External mind by means of the 
Rational Faculty, but with the man who has attained 
the Seventh Day, it denotes the Heavenly Marriage of 
Good and Truth to which all spiritual, natural, and 
physical things have reference. This Marriage takes 
place between the will and understanding of the re- 
generating man on account of the Marriage, or Con- 
junction which is taking place between his mind and 
the Word, which is creating him in the Divine Human 
Form. 

392. The number Three is used to denote what is 
Holy, and what is complete and full from beginning to 
end, through the successive degrees of End, Cause and 
Effect, which are necessary for the existence of a One, 
as the Will, Understanding and Life, in man. 



/ 



188 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Coming of the Lord. The orderly preparation 



393. The Third Day is used to denote the Coming 
of the Lord into the spiritual world of man by the 
Word, and it also indicates every revelation of His 
Word to the spiritual perceptions. The Coming of the 
Lord to the mind of the regenerating man, and the 
Kesurrection, are identical, for His Resurrection takes 
place on the Third Day, when the regenerating man is 
in a full state of preparation to enter into Spiritual 
Life, or what is the same thing, for Spiritual Life to 
enter his mind. 

As the studious reader, by means of a Concordance, may refer to any sub- 
ject in the Word which is being treated of in the succeeding pages, and from 
the principles explained in the preceding pages may perceive that all the 
words thus referred to have an interior meaning, the marginal references 
will now be discontinued. Thus, as under the subject of " Trees/' " Seed," 
*' Clothing," or " Garments," " Horses," " Sheep," " Shepherds," " Flocks/' 
"Cattle," "Beasts," "Fishes," "People," "City," "Flesh," "Blood." 
" Bread/' " Water," " Wine," "Light," etc., the illustrations may easily be 
found, and the correspondences will be firmly stored in the memory by such 
comparative study of the Literal Sense of the Word. 

394. The Three successive decrees of the Third State 
of Regeneration, in which the Rational Faculty is im- 
bued with Life from the Lord through the Internal 
mind, are represented in the preparation for the birth 
of the Lord, by First, the " Grass," which signifies the 
Scientific Truth of the Literal Sense of the Word which 
is confirmed by the Scientific Principles of the External 
mind. Secondly, by the " Herb yielding seed," which 
signifies a life according to the Literal Truths of the 
Word, from which results, Thirdly, perceptions and 
knowledges of Good and Truth, signified by the " Fruit 
tree yielding fruit." From this orderly preparation of 
the life of a regenerating man, the Lord Jesus Christ is 
born from the Internal mind into the Rational Faculty, 
where He is first seen as the WORD. 



Mark g : 31 
Matt. 15 : 32 
Luke 2 : 46 
Luke 18 : 32 
Jer. 31 : 6 
Luke 7 : 14 
Luke 15 : 18 
Mark 9 : 9 
Mark 9 : 10 
John 11 : 24 
1 John 2 : 24 
John 15 : 7 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 1SB 



The reception of Divine Truth. The Advent. 



THE BIRTH OF THE HOLY CHILD. 

And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped 
him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger ; 
because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 
2 : 7. 

395. It was illustrated under the subject of the Second 
Day of Creation that the Mother of the Infant Jesus in 
the regenerating man, is the Affection for the Scientifics, 
or Truths of the Literal Sense of the W ord, as they are 
received by the External mind, and the Rational Faculty 
is first acted upon by means of these exterior Truths. 
The Miraculous Conception is the reception of these 
Truths into the External memory from Affection for them. 

396. All Conceptions and Births which are narrated 
in the Word, are to be understood spiritually and not 
physically, they having relation to the order of the New 
Birth or regeneration of man, and the minds of enlight- 
ened men are created with the faculty of perceiving 
higher and more elevating thoughts concerning the 
Advent of the Lord, according to the laws of Divine 
Order, if they desire to look above earthly things. 

397. When the Rational Faculty, which is intermediate 
between the Internal and External mind, first perceives 
the enlightenment that the Word is the Lord, which is 
caused by the inflowing of the Divine Love from the 
Internal mind, then the Lord is born within the regen- 



1W 



THE FACE OF JESUS. 



The First Born Son. Essential Divine Truth. 

erating man, and he ceases to think that either Good or 
Truth originates in himself, and this Perception is the 
" First Born Son," for it is in this principle of child-like 
innocence and in this infantile state that he acknowledges 
the Internal Sense of the Word and perceives that it is 
the Lord. 

398. Previous to this Perception, his reflections were 
upon the Literal Truths which were stored within his 
External memory, and in Appearance it seemed as if he 
originated his thoughts, which were consequently filled 
with self-intelligence, but as soon as the Rational Faculty 
is enlightened from above, or Within, so that the re- 
generating man sees that the Word is the One Lord, in 
Heaven and on Earth, then the Affection for the Truth 
learned from the Word is "brought forth" into the 
Rational Faculty where it becomes, through the illum- 
inated Perception, the "First Born Son." 

399. The Internal Sense of the Word consists of the 
Essential Divine Truth, but in the Literal Sense there 
are Truths which are accommodated to the compre- 
hension of those who are principled in external worship. 
It is essential to their ideas of doctrine and faith, to 
believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was miraculously con- 
ceived and externally born as an infant into this physical 
world as another and separate finite man, although this 
idea is contrary to the Laws of Divine Order, and what- 
ever is contrary to these Laws is not the Truth, and a 
Rational Faith can only accept such principles as the 
enlightened understanding perceives as true. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF. GOD. 



191 



Enlightenment concerning the Word. The Sons of God. 

400. But with all who are led to obey the Precepts of 
the Word, the Two Great Commandments of Spiritual 
Life, even by the Appearance of Truth, as it exists in 
the Literal Sense, their minds will be so elevated above 
evil and falsity, that they will be nourished by the 
Essential Divine Truth, and in their spiritual progress, 
their perceptions will be enlightened concerning the true 
Nature of the Word. 

401. The Internal Sense of the Word is accommodated 
to the state of life of those whose Internal mind has been 
opened, whose lives are principled in the Precepts of the 
Word, and whose Rational Faculty is so far enlightened, 
that the illumination is compared to the brightness of 
the sun and stars. These are they of whom it is said, 
"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
the firmament." " Then shall the righteous shine forth, as 
the sun in the kingdom of their father." 

402. Hence it is of great importance that the Literal 
Truths of the Word should be known and received into 
the mind and actuate the life, for the Interior Truths 
are only revealed to those who are principled in love to 
and faith in the Lord by obedience to the Command- 
ments of the Word. " But as many as received Him, to 
them gave He jpower to become the Sons of God." They 
who are born of God are His sons, because they are 
principled in the Truths of the Word. 

403. "And wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and 
laid him in a manger." The Truths which now appear 
to the regenerating man are the truths of innocence, for 



192 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The truths of innocence. A manger. 

he has become an infant in the opening of the perception 
that all his spiritual life is from the Lord, and he is one 
of the "little ones" "That in heaven their angels do 
always behold the face of my Father which is in Heaven." 
In the Word, "Clothes" signify everything external which 
enclose spiritual principles. Truth is the " clothing " of 
Good, because Good is the Life within Truth. " Swad- 
dling clothes" signify the Truths of Innocence with 
which the Infant Jesus is clothed within the enlightened 
Rational Faculty of the regenerating man. These Truths 
of Innocence are the simple Living Truths of the Literal 
Sense of the Word, by which the spiritual life of the 
regenerating man is to be nourished, and this Infant is 
laid "in a manger." 

404. A " Manger " signifies the Doctrine of Truth, or 
spiritual instruction from the Word. A "horse" signi- 
fies the understanding of Truth from the Word. All 
animals mentioned in the Word signify some spiritual 
principle in the mind of man. " Horses" are many times 
referred to, especially in the Book of Revelation, in which 
white, pale, red, and black horses are mentioned. A 
horse feeds from a "manger," which signifies that the 
Understanding must receive food, or spiritual instruction 
from the Word, and thus the Rational Faculty, at this 
State of regeneration, must be fed by the simple Truths 
of Innocence from the Word. 

405. "Because there was no room for them in the 
inn. An "Inn" literally denotes a place of rest, or 
night-abode, and in the Word it signifies a place of 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 193 



An Inn. The representative Face. 

instruction, for as in an earthly inn, the physical frame 
is nourished while journeying, so the mind is fed from 
the Word, during its progressions from the " night " 
toward " morning." As an " Inn" is a covering or shelter 
for the man who rests within, it also signifies the Exterior 
Natural Principle of the External mind, for the Natural 
principle also has its interior and exterior principle. 

406. The Exterior Natural Principle is that which 
communicates by means of the senses with the physical 
world, but it is not the physical frame which is governed 
by it, but is the principle by which the idea of things in 
this world flow into the mind. 

407. The Interior Natural Principle communicates 
with the Rational Faculty, through which there is a 
continual inflowing from the Lord into this Interior 
degree into the Exterior Natural Principle. With un- 
regenerated men, Good is there turned into evil, and 
Truth is changed into falsity, but with the regenerating 
man, Good and Truth from the Lord are presented in 
the Natural Principle as in a mirror. The Natural 
Principle is like a face representative of the spiritual 
principles of the Internal mind, and that face becomes 
representative of true spiritual principles, when, by a life 
according to the Truths of the Word, the Exterior prin- 
ciples correspond to the Internal mind. In like manner, 
the Literal Truths of the Word are the Face of Jesus. 

408. When the Rational Faculty is born into the 
perception of the Divine inflowing through the Internal 
mind, or that the Life of the Word is the Internal Sense, 

M 



194 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



No room in the inn. Shepherds. 

it does not take its abode or derive nourishment from 
the "Inn" of the Exterior Natural Principle, or the 
Literal Sense of the Word alone, for without a percep- 
tion of the Internal Sense, there is "no room" or place 
in the "Inn," and this is why the infantile perception of 
the Eational Faculty from the Internal mind is laid in 
the " manger " of spiritual instruction from the Word, 
and awaits the orderly unfolding of the principles of the 
Internal Sense. 

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding 
in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. 

Luke 2:8. 

409. The "same country" denotes "Bethlehem of 
Judea," or the State of the Interior perception of the 
Rational Faculty in which the Lord is born in the re- 
generating man, for the Lord Jesus is born in this 
"Bethlehem." As "Shepherds" care for and guide 
their sheep or flocks, so with the regenerating man, the 
Truths of the Word lead to Good, which is love and 
obedience, and they thus become the "Shepherds." 

410. "Abiding" signifies living, or the state of the 
life in which these Truths are received, and "field" 
signifies the External mind which is being regenerated. 
" Earth " signifies the External mind, and a " field " is 
the " earth " in which there is " grass " growing for the 
nourishment of the "sheep" or "flocks." 

411. Throughout the Word, "sheep" or "flocks," 
signify those who are in the Affection of Good, and 
who live the innocent life of Love to the Lord and the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



195 



Keeping watch. The Angel of the Lord. 

*? 

Neighbor, and these words also represent the same 
principles in the regenerating man. " Keeping watch " 
denotes a course of life according to the Precepts of the 
Word, or according to a true faith in the Lord. " By 
night " signifies the obscure state of the External mind 
concerning spiritual principles, when the Rational Faculty 
at first begins to open to perceive the Internal Sense of 
the Word. 

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the 
glory of the Lord shone round about them ; and they 
were sore afraid. Luke 2 : 9. 

412. "And, lo," signifies the perception of the Divine 
influence, and " the angel of the Lord " # is the Divine 
Human Principle of the Word, the Lord Himself within 
the Internal Sense of the Word, which " came upon" 
the "shepherds," or which is revealed within the Truths 
of the Word to the regenerating man. 

413. "And the glory of the Lord shone round about 
them." " Glory "t is the intelligence and wisdom derived 
from the Divine Truth, or the Internal Sense of the 
Word, which sheds its lustre upon the Literal Truths. 
This splendor of light which shines from the Word is 
called "Glory," for it shines round about and within the 
Truths of the Word, which are the "Shepherds" which 
lead to the perception of the Internal Sense. 

414. When the regenerating man catches the first 
glimpse of the great Spiritual Truth that the Word is 
the Lord, and that it is the Son of God who is born into 



* Ex. 23 : 20. f Matt. 25 : 31. 



196 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The glory of the Lord. The guidance of the Lord. 

the " earth" of the External mind, an inexpressible 
" Glory," or elevation, fills his whole being, for Heaven 
seems opened to his spiritual sight, and the things of 
time and space for the moment seem to vanish, as he 
sees the Divine Kevelation to be from the Lord, and 
many mental connections concerning the Word, and the 
Divine Providence, are surmounted, and the paths are 
made straight for the Rational Faculty to progress in 
clearer perceptions. 

415. He can now look back upon the history of the 
nations and people of this physical world, until his mind" 
can penetrate no farther into the retrospect, and through 
the past Eternal ages he perceives One Lord Jesus Christ 
alone, who has been unchangeable in His Infinite Love 
and Wisdom, who has been impartial toward all His 
creatures, although to the obscure judgment of man His 
apparent dealings with men have seemed unjust, as if 
one class of men were favored more than others. He 
has provided His Divine Truth in some form for all, and 
has led those who have permitted this Truth to enter 
their lives in the slightest degree, for not all who are 
surrounded with the most enlightening influences, make 
the best use of their privileges, and the Lord can only 
lead those who are guided by the Truths which they 
know. 

416. When this " Glory" within the Divine Truth of 
the Word is first revealed to the regenerating man, he 
is "sore afraid." This "fear" is not the fear which evil 
or unregenerated men have toward their idea of God, 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



197 



The fear of the Lord. Good tidings. 

or which those possess who are in the observance of 
external worship without the Internal Living principle 
of spiritual life, but it is a holy state of mind filled with 
adoration and reverence for Him who is the Word, 
adjoined to humiliation of heart, and this state is the 
"Fear of the Lord," which "is the beginning of wisdom." 

And the Angel said unto them, Fear not ; for, behold I 
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to 
all people. Luke 2:10. . 

417. By "the Angel said unto them, Fear not," is 
meant an internal perception from the Lord that this 
opening of the Kational Faculty to receive the Truths of 
the Internal Sense of the Word, is by means of a re- 
creation of spiritual life, by which the Proprium is devas- 
tated and put off. At first there is a sense of " fear," 
arising from the Proprium, which is antagonistic to the 
" Glory" which has been shining from within, for all 
who come suddenly from their own proper life, or Pro- 
prium, into the " beginning" of spiritual life, are affected 
with a sense of " fear," which the Lord dissipates as 
soon as the regenerating man clearly perceives that this 
illumination is from Him alone, and that it is not a 
dreamy hallucination of the imagination. 

418. " For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy," signifies perception that the Word is the Lord, and 
that the whole Inspired Word is the Gospel, or " Good 
Tidings," because the whole Word of the Old as well as 



V 



198 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Many Advents. Joy and gladness. 

the New Testament treats of His Coming into the minds, 
of regenerating men, as has been illustrated thus far 
concerning the Days of Creation. 

419. As all things of the Word in its Internal Sense 
treat of the Lord alone in His relation to regenerating 
men, it may clearly be perceived that the Advent of the 
Lord into the world of time, is not only in the giving 
of the Literal Sense of the Gospels of the Evangelists, 
but as often as the Prophecies, Psalms, and the Ancient 
Spiritual Histories were dictated and recorded, even to 
the most remote ages, and the Lord Jesus Christ is now 
as fully present on the earth as at any time in the 
historical past. The Advent of the Lord into the phy- 
sical world of time and space is continual, and in general 
a representative Advent is made in the lowest degree of 
physical matter as often as each copy of the Word is 
reproduced from the press, but the True Advent is made 
only in the life and External mind or "earth" of the 
regenerating man who with "joy " and gladness receives 
the Truths of the Word into his will and understanding. 

420. "Joy" is predicated of the Affection of Good, 
and " Gladness" of the Affection of Truth. " Joy" has 
relation to the heart or Interior representative of the 
mind, while "Gladness" has relation to the face or 
Exterior representative of the mind. As there is a 
marriage of Good and Truth in every part of the Word 
received into the mind, so the words "joy and gladness" 
are frequently mentioned together in the same verse of 
the Scriptures. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 199 



Heavenly joy. Eternal happiness. 

421. The " Good Tidings" of the Word, when received 
into the life of the regenerating man, will, in the " other 
world " of elevated rational thought, fill his mind with 
" great joy." This Heavenly joy is from the Lord alone, 
and in the effort to Love the Neighbor, the constant 
impulse within his heart is to love others better than 
himself. This " great joy" does not consist in the grati- 
fication of any selfish desire, and his delight arises from 
the increase of spiritual wisdom, so that through this 
knowledge from the Word, others may also be led through 
his intelligence and example, and experience the same 
holy joy arising from a life and thoughts which are 
according to Divine Order, by which he is being pre- 
pared for that Eternal joy in which his whole future life 
will be given for the benefit of his fellow men, to which 
all his energies will be consecrated. • 

422. Eternal happiness is imparted to those who live 
in love and faith in the Lord from the Word. The 
regenerating man enters upon the realization of this 
joy after the death of natural thought, for then he is 
within the Kingdom of Heaven which has been forming 
within him. In the Heavenly State there is a communion 
of all blessings, in which the peace, intelligence, wisdom 
and happiness of all are communicated to each other 
with all the variety of their manifold gifts and talents, 
and hence it may be conceived how great is the exten- 
sion of that joy, when the External mind is governed by 
the Internal, or Heaven. 



200 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Unselfish joy. People and nations. 

423. They in whom the Love of Self and the World 
reign, do not know what Heavenly joy is, and it seems 
incredible to them that there can be any other delight 
than selfish enjoyment, when yet the joy of Heaven only 
so far enters the mind as those evil loves are removed. 
The unselfish happiness which succeeds their removal 
is so great that it exceeds the comprehension of every 
man while in merely natural thought. 

424. " Which shall be to all people" signifies all whose 
lives are principled in the Truths of the Word, and 
specifically by " people " is meant these Truths, or the 
Affection of Truth in the regenerating man. The reason 
why Truths are signified by "people," is, because in the 
Word, those who are governed by a "king" are called 
"people," and by a "king" is signified Truth. Thus 
the "King of Kings" signifies the Divine Truth of the 
Word which governs the lives of regenerating men. 

425. "People" and "Nations" are frequently men- 
tioned together in the Word. "Nations," in a general 
sense, signify all who are receptive of the Celestial prin- 
ciples of Love to the Lord, and specifically is meant this 
Love, or Affection of Good in the regenerating man, 
which results from obedience to the W^ord. 

426. In the historical narrative of the Old Testament, 
the generations of men are distinguished into houses, 
families, and nations, and throughout the Word these 
expressions signify the good principles of Love, and of 
Truth grounded in Love. Thus an accurate distinction 
is everywhere made between "nations" and "people," 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



201 



Priesthood. The Father and the Son. 

the former signifying good or evil principles, and the 
latter true or false principles according to the nature of 
the subject. 

427. As Good is from the Divine Love, the Priest- 
hood of the Old Testament represents the Fatherhood 
of the Lord, because nations there consist of families 
and houses, and in the historical narrative, the head of 
each household is the father who rules in love to his 
children, and in the patriarchal era, external worship 
is conducted by the father as a priest of the Lord. 

428. The "good tidings of great joy which shall be to 
all people," fills the man whose Rational Faculty per- 
ceives the Interior Truth of the Word ; when it is re- 
vealed to him that it is not only from the Lord, but con- 
stitutes the Lord himself descending through the Internal 
mind as the Divine Truth, the Son of the Father, or the 
Divine Love within the Divine Truth of the Word. 

429. Thus the Son is not separated from the Father, 
for the Father is in Him, and He is in the Father, and 
both these principles of Love and Wisdom are entering 
the will and understanding of the regenerating man, and 
yet there is but One Personal Lord who is entering the 
" earth " of this one man by means of the W ord. 

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a 
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2 : 11. 

430. " This day" signifies this state of regeneration. 
A "City" signifies True Doctrine from the Word accord- 



202 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



True Doctrine. " David," the King. 

ing to the Truths of the Internal Sense, and its opposite 
meaning is False Doctrine confirmed from the Appear- 
ance of Truth. True Doctrine also implies its reception 
into the life, for Spiritual Truth has no existence in man 
until he is nourished by its living within him. 

431. " David " in the Word, signifies the Lord as to 
the Divine Truth, from whom is faith, intelligence, and 
wisdom, and the name does not mean a physical frame 
of a man upon this earth in its past history of human 
events, for throughout the whole Word, names signify 
Spiritual Principles, and in no case do they mean the 
apparent persons who represent these principles in the 
spiritual history of the regeneration of man. Where 
evil principles are adjoined to the names of representa- 
tive persons, they signify the evils of the unregenerated 
Proprium, for no evil can be predicated of the Lord. 

432. Concerning " David" it is thus written, "David 
my servant shall be king over them ; and they shall all 
have one shepherd : — they, and their children's children, 
for ever : and my servant David shall be their prince for 
ever." # " Afterward shall the children of Israel return, 
and seek the Lord their God y and David their king ; and 
shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days"i 
These prophecies are supposed, from the appearance of 
literal history, to have been dictated long after the 
narrative of the history of " David " was given, and yet 
it is literally declared that he shall be their king and 
prince : whence it may be evident to every thoughtful 

* Eztk. 37: 24, 25. t Hos. 3 : 5. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



203- 



The Spiritual King. 



Literal quotations. 



person that by "David" in the Internal Sense is meant 
the Divine Truth of the Word, which reigns as a King 
in the Spiritual World, and this meaning is also the same 
in all places in the Word where " David " is mentioned. 

433. In order to illustrate that the names of kingdoms, of 
countries, of cities, of men and things, signify Spiritual Principles, 
without which meaning they are mere dead sounds of words with- 
out intelligible coherence, two or three examples may suffice : 

" And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the- 
fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee 
that is in the land of Assyria ; and they shall come, and rest all of them 
in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, 
and upon all bushes. 

"In the same day will the Lord shave with a razor that is hired,, 
namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and 
the hair of the feet ; and it shall also consume the beard. And it shall 
come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow and two' 
sheep ; and it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they 
shall give, that he shall eat butter ; for butter and honey shall every one 
eat that is left in the land. 

" And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, 
where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings it shall even 
be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come- 
thither ) because all the land shall become briers and thorns. And on 
all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come- 
thither the fear of briers and thorns ; but it shall be for the sending 
forth of oxen, and for the treading of Josser cattle." * 

"Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts: 0 my people that 
dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian : he shall smite thee with 
a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. 
And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the 
slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb : and as his rod was upon the 



* Is. 7 : 18, 25. 



204 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Spiritual correspondences. The Bottomless Pit. 

sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. — He is come to 
Aiath, he is passed to Migron ; at Michmash he hath laid up his car- 
riages : They are gone over the passage : they have taken up their lodg- 
ing at Geba ; Raman is afraid ; Gibeah of Saul is fled. Lift up thy 
voice, 0 daughter of Gallim ; cause it to be heard unto Laish, 0 poor 
Anathoth. Madmenah is removed ; the inhabitants of Gebim gather 
themselves to flee. As yet he shall remain at Nob that day : he shall 
shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of 
Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough 
with terror, and he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, 
and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one." * 

" And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto 
the earth : and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he 
opened the bottomless pit ; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as 
the smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air were darkened 
by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke 
locusts upon the earth : and unto them was given power, as the scorpions 
of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should 
not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree ; 
but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they 
should be tormented five months : and their torment was as the torment 
of a scorpion when he striketh a man. And the shapes of the locusts 
were like unto horses prepared unto battle ; and on their heads were as 
it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And 
they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of 
lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron : and 
the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses 
running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there 
were stings in their tails : and their power was to hurt men five months. 
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless 
pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek 
tongue hath his name Apollyon." f 



* Is. 10 : 24. 



t Rev. 9 : 1-11. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



205 



An interior signification. The Saviour. 

434. Unless these prophetic utterances signified Spiritual 
Principles, there could result neither sense nor meaning from the 
words ; and if the mind should rest in the mere names, without 
looking for an inward signification, the Rational Faculty could 
not acknowledge these passages to be the Word of God. Yet, in 
the Internal Sense within these strange utterances, the principles 
are coherent and rational, which the regenerating man will find 
to be true as he examines, compares and lives the Truth of the 
"Word, for the Internal Sense constitutes Heaven, and the Literal 
Sense holds the Living Word for man, as he progresses from 
natural to spiritual life, and enters the " City of David." 

435. As "David" signifies the Divine Truth of the 
Lord, and the Word is the Divine Truth, and therefore 
is the Lord, so " David " signifies the Word as to the 
Internal Sense in the mind of the regenerating man, and 
the " City of David " is the True Doctrine derived from 
the Internal Sense of the Word, which the Rational 
Faculty perceives as the Eternal Truth of God, which is 
born to the perceptions " this day," or in the Third State 
of Regeneration, and this Divine Truth of the Word is 
the " Saviour" from sin. 

436. This " Saviour" is the " Word made flesh," which, 
when eaten by the regenerating man, nourishes him with 
Heavenly Life, and this Divine Humanity can only enter 
as sin is rejected to make room for the " Saviour," who 
lifts the regenerating man above his Proprium, and thus 
redeems him from the power of sin, and this " Saviour" 
is "Christ the Lord," or the Divine Truth of the Word 
which "was in the beginning," and which "was God," 
and who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." 



206 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Christ the Lord. The order of regeneration. 

437. This Divine Truth of the Word is the Son of 
God. " We know that the Son of God is come, and hath 
given us an understanding, that we may know Him that 
is True ; and we are in Him that is True, even in His 
Son Jesus Christ. This is the True God, and eternal 
life."* "Light is come into the world. He that doeth 
Truth, cometh to the Light.'' 't It has been previously 
stated that no other Principle than the Divine Truth is 
meant in the Word by the " Messiah," or " Christ" ; and 
they to whom in their regenerating life the Internal 
Sense of the Word has been revealed, " have found the 
Messias, which is, being intrepreted, the Christ." \ 

438. The Regeneration of man takes place according 
to the Laws of Divine Order, just as the conception, 
gestation and birth of every child or creature occurs 
according to the orderly laws of the physical universe, 
which are derived from the Laws of Divine Order. 
Thus the Lord descends to the "earth" of the External 
mind, from the Internal mind, through the intermediate 
Rational Faculty, which is prepared for the reception of 
the Lord, or Interior Divine Truth, by obedience to the 
Word, which is the Lord Himself received into the life. 

439. The Conception and Birth of the Lord Jesus 
Christ into the Spiritual World, or Rational Faculty of 
the regenerating man, as narrated in the Gospels, is 
written purely by the correspondence of the natural 
order of birth with the Spiritual Birth in the life of a 
regenerating man. It is according to the Laws of Divine 



* 1 John 5 : 20. t John 3 : 19, 21. \ John 1 : «. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



207 



The Word is the Saviour. Confirmation of the Truth. 

Order, that a man should prepare himself for the recep- 
tion of the Living Truth of the Word ; and as he pre- 
pares himself with the means given him, so the Truths 
of the Word enter his mind as into a habitation, for the 
Word was given that it might be the Saviour, by enter- 
ing man and thus saving him from sin. 

440. This Preparation is made by means of know- 
ledges concerning the Spiritual Principles of the Word, 
and thus by enlightened wisdom and reason. It is a 
Law of Divine Order, that as far as man accedes to and 
approaches the Lord by means of the Word — which he 
should do altogether as if he had all power from himself 
in freedom, — so far the Lord accedes to and approaches 
to man, and by means of the Eational Faculty, conjoins 
Himself to the regenerating man, by revealing the 
Spiritual Glory which is within every expression of the 
Word. 

And this shall be a sign unto you : ye shall find the 
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 

Luke 2:12. 

441. By a "Sign" or Token, in the Word, is signified 
a confirmation of' Truth in the experience of the regen- 
erating man, united with the study of the Word as a 
proof that it is so, and therefore it denotes illustration 
of the Truth from the Word, by which he may examine 
himself, to perceive if he is in that innocent and child- 
like state of self-abnegation in which he may " find the 
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." 



208 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Signs and Miracles. 



A literal miracle. 



MIRACLES. 

442. The External mind of the regenerating man at first con- 
stantly looks into the natural world for " Signs" and Miracles. 
It looks into the history of nations outside of the Word in the 
effort to prove the physical occurrences of the facts narrated in 
the spiritual history of the Word, and in the description of signs 
and miracles, he first accepts them all as physically true, from a 
traditional or historical faith which has inculated a reverence 
for the Word, and from an erroneous opinion concerning the 
Divine Omnipotence, from which he imagines that " with God i all 
things are possible," until his Rational Faculty is enlightened to 
see that the Lord never violates His Laws of Divine Order, and 
that the miracles which are recorded did not have a physical 
manifestation, but are illustrative of spiritual principles by the 
laws of correspondence. 

443. As soon as the Rational Faculty perceives that the whole 
Word is a spiritual history of the different States of the Regener- 
ation of men, with infinite variety, adapted to all men on the 
Eternal Principles of Divine Order, then the whole subject of 
disorderly physical miracles is at once dissipated, and reverence 
is implanted for the higher principles which the Word contains. 

444. A "Miracle" is a deviation from established natural laws. 
The External mind of the man who is in natural thought only, is 
governed by the established laws of his hereditary nature which 
fill his proprium. The implanting of spiritual life from the Lord 
through the Internal mind, and enlightening his Rational Faculty 
by means of the Word, is Super-natural, and is a " Miracle." 

445. Such a Miracle deviates from the established or hereditary 
laws which exist in the unregenerated Proprium, and yet it is 
according to the Laws of Divine Order. Thus the Rational 
Faculty of the regenerating man recognizes that within the 
miracles recorded in the natural language of the Word, there are 
spiritual principles confirmed which prove its Divine Inspiration. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



209 



The Sign of the Son of Man. Physical miracles not true. 

All the Miracles have their ultimate culmination in the Literal 
Sense of the Word, in which they reach the lowest or most 
exterior degree of natural thought, by the correspondence of 
physical objects with spiritual principles. 

446. " And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in 
heaven." " Hea^n" signifies the Rational Faculty enlightened 
from the Internal mind, which was so called at the close of the 
Second Day of Creation, which now recognizes that the Divine 
Truth represented by the Son of Man has appeared in the open- 
ing of this Rational Faculty to discern the Living Sense of the 
Word in which the Lord is Personally present to all who love 
and obey its Truths, since all the spiritual principles of the Word 
are from the Lord, and relate to Him alone. 

447. Miracles are often recorded in the spiritual history of the 
Old Testament, concerning the Hebrews, because, in the Word, 
that nation is representative of the External mind of those who 
possess the Literal Sense of the Word, and are not aware that it 
contains an Internal Sense which is Divine Truth, and they 
represent the principle of external worship which is so exterior, 
that no true principles of internal worship are discerned, a con- 
dition which has always existed in the spiritual history of man, 
not only in remote ages, but at the present time. 

448. When the Literal Sense of the Word only is received, the 
miracles there recorded are believed in as physical facts, notwith- 
standing that the laws of the physical world are thereby set aside, 
and that such interpretation of the Word is not in harmony with 
•the laws of Divine Order from which all natural and physical 
laws exist. A man in such a state of thought believes in what- 
ever is declared in the Literal Sense of the Word without inves- 
tigation as to the true meaning, because he has been taught that 
it is the Word of God. 

449. He does not perceive that the Lord in His relation to men 
has always been the same, and that if it was once possible for 
miracles to take place in the physical world, such occurrences 

N 



210 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Spurious faith. True faith. 



may take place as freely in the present epoch. He marvels at 
the discoveries which are constantly being developed in the subtle 
things of the scientific world, which have always existed, but 
which have not hitherto been manifested, because the world was 
not ready for their use, and yet all these discoveries are accord- 
ing to the Laws of Order, and for that reason they are not called 
miracles. 

450. If physical miracles, such as appear to be described in the 
Literal Sense of the Word, were possible, there could be no open- 
ing of the Rational Faculty of man, because he would then be 
compelled to acknowledge certain principles as facts, without 
freedom to reason whether they were true or not, and what a man 
is made to believe from appearance, compulsion, or fear, is after- 
wards dissipated, for it is not true faith. 

451. When the Rational Faculty discerns that the Miracles of 
the Word are spiritually true, the regenerating man freely receives 
the Internal principles repi e 5ented thereby, and appropriates them 
into his life, and they remain as Eternal Truth; for into the 
Internal mind, which is only opened when the Internal Sense of 
the Word is perceived, nothing enters except by intellectual ideas, 
which are reasonings concerning what is true, and the ground in 
which these ideas are received and grow, is the enlightened 
Rational Faculty, which is illuminated by the Lord alone. 

452. If a man to whom the Internal Sense of the Word has 
been revealed should attempt to believe in the physical reality of 
the Literal Miracles of the Word, there would be such an oppo- 
sition and collision between the Internal and External mind, that 
if the Internal mind should become closed, profanation of the 
Word would result from the effort to conjoin Truth with falsity; 
but with the regenerating man whose Rational Faculty is opened 
to see that all things of the Word have relation to spiritual prin- 
ciples only, this Revelation of the Internal Sense as the Divine 
Truth becomes to him " none other than the House of God, and 
this is the Gate of Heaven." * Beyond this Heavenly Portal 



* Gen. 28 : 17 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



211 



Belief in physical miracles. 



Suddenly 



there is no material barrier for his Rational Faculty to resist, and 
lie can enter and receive all the Light which he is able to bear, 
because he looks into the Spiritual World which is within the 
Word, instead of obscurely gazing into the natural world without. 

453. But it is not injurious for those men who have no percep- 
tion of the Internal Sense, to believe in the literal miracles of the 
Word, for their worship is external, without the internal principle, 
and no collision or profanation can take place in the mind, be- 
cause their Rational Faculty is not opened. 

454. The belief in the physical miracles of the Word does not 
contribute anything to an upbuilding of True Faith in the Lord, 
or the Word, and if such persons should see before their physical 
sight a multitude of similar miracles, even to bringing the dead 
physical frame into life, they would not acknowledge them to be 
done by the Lord, and therefore they would have no effect upon 
them, for they would not recognize any Divine Internal Principle, 
any more than they perceive an Internal Sense within the Word. 
" If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be 
persuaded though one rose from the dead!' 

And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of 
the heavenly host praising God. Luke 2:13. 

455. In the Internal Sense of the Word, all ideas or 
expressions which refer to time, signify State, and thence 
the quality of the state of the regenerating man, or its 
opposite in the unregenerated principles. "Suddenly," 
signifies a present state of Affection and Thought which 
is certain and full on account of the perception that the 
Word is the Son of God, and that this Word is " Christ 
the Lord." 



212 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Dm 



worship, 



The Angel. 



456. By the " Angel," is signified the Lord, who is 
the Divine Truth of the Word, for, in the spiritual sense, 
Angels represent the Divine Proceeding of the Lord, 
which is the Word. " Multitude" is predicated of 
Truth, and "Greatness" or Magnitude is predicated of 
Good. By the "Heavenly Host" is signified the know- 
ledges of Good and Truth which are from the Word, and 
"the multitude of the heavenly host" signifies that all 
these Heavenly Knowledges which have been received 
into the life of the regenerating man, cause him to 
oonfess and worship the Lord, which is denoted by 
" Praising God-" 

DIVINE WORSHIP. 

457. The True Worship of God consists in the adoration of His 
Divine Humanity in humiliation, and in the acknowledgment 
that in ourselves there is nothing Good nor alive ; that in our- 
selves we are dead, and that we are only receptacles of life and 
thought from the Lord. The more we possess such inward 
acknowledgment, the more true will be our humiliation and wor- 
ship, because our thoughts, words, and actions will be filled with 
Love to the Lord and the Neighbor, which contain the spiritual 
principles of Eternal Life. 11 0 come let us worship and bow 
down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker!' 

458. This inward humiliation and adoration is represented by 
" kneeling." In the physical frame of man, the joints of the knees 
are intermediate between the feet or natural external represen- 
tative of the External mind, and the thighs, which represent the 
Affection of Good in the Internal mind. The " knees " correspond 
to the conjunction of the Internal and External mind, or of Good 
and Truth in the regenerating man, which takes place by means 
of the Rational Faculty, from which arises adoration, thanks- 
giving, and humiliation. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 213 



Before the Lord. The study of the Word. 



459. " Before " signifies what is Internal,, from which all life 
proceeds to its ultimate effect. "Before the Lord," signifies 
" Within the Word," for in it alone are revealed those Interior 
Truths which teach of the Divine Love and Wisdom, and which 
cannot be imparted from any other source. We therefore " kneel 
before the Lord " when we receive these revealed Truths into our 
thoughts and lives. 

460. True worship is Internal, for it is grounded in the Interior 
principle of Love and Faith, and External worship, without this 
Interior principle, is not true worship. This holy ,and living 
principle is the Essential thing of Divine Worship, which should 
be a constant state of daily life, and true External worship 
is the manifestation of this Internal principle in the outward life 
of worldly business and domestic duties, in obedience to the 
religious, moral and civil laws contained in the Commandments 
of the Word. 

461. All External worship is a formality of Internal worship, 
for Internal worship is the Essential principle of spiritual life, 
and to make worship consist of that which is formal, without 
that which is essential, is but a dead form. They who are ruled 
by principles of Internal worship, will endeavor to constantly de- 
rive spiritual food from the Word, both in the Literal and the In- 
ternal Sense. They will do this from Affection for the Truth, and 
will not try to excuse themselves in their critical self-examination, 
by affirming that the perishing things of this physical world so 
•engross their thoughts that they have no time or place in which 
they can open the Word and feed upon the " flesh and blood " 
within its expressions of love to man. 

462. A regenerating man whose Rational Faculty has been 
opened by the Lord to see Him as the Word, cannot keep its 
pages closed; for without increasing his wisdom with regular 
supplies of Heavenly intelligence he cannot live, and his Affec- 
tions for Good and Truth cannot otherwise be strengthened. 
A man who attempts to excuse himself from the study of the 
Word, whereby the Lord is acknowledged, may well doubt 



214 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Spiritual worship. 



Humility. 



whether the first principles of a regenerating life have entered 
his mind, because the Divine Truth of the Word enters no farther 
than a man seeks it in love and freedom, and all spiritual know- 
ledge must be sought from Affection for the Truths of the Word. 
He who loves the Truth, cannot be kept away from the object of 
his affection. 

463. A regenerating man who worships the Lord from Internal 
motives is not alone in the world, however isolated he may seem, 
and he does not murmur nor complain if his fellow-men are not 
in sympathy with him, although he desires that all may be led to 
the Light which shines from the Word. He lives consciously in 
the spiritual world of thought, as well as in the natural world,, 
because everything which he sees, feels or hears, is representative- 
of some Eternal spiritual principle, which becomes more real than 
the dead objects which surround his external life. 

464. In the anticipation of increased spiritual growth, he cheer- 
fully performs every duty which appears at hand, even the most 
minute, knowing that " he that is faithful in that which is least? 
ivill also be faithful in much," in all his earthly affairs, and as his 
work in the Spiritual World is ready for him to take up, the Lord 
opens his spiritual eyes to perceive his real world. 

465. The regenerating man experiences no terror in the thoughts 
concerning the dissolution of physical life, which so many people 
dread, for all reference to death in the Word signifies the spiritual 
death in which the Proprium of man entombs the Rational Fa- 
culty. The death of the physical frame of the man who is prin- 
cipled in Internal worship, corresponds to the perishing of merely 
natural thought, and is thus representative of the entrance into 
the Spiritual World of thought. 

466. He does not assert a superior wisdom to others, nor "occupy 
the chief seat at the table," for in his humiliation of heart, he 
knows nothing of himself, and he does not combat to the injury 
of others, what they hold as true religious doctrine from the Word, 
but in gentleness and love is ever ready to help all who desire, to 
that Source of Wisdom to which he has been led by the Lord* 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



215 



'Internal worship. Sacrifices and burnt-offerings 

They who are in a true state of Internal worship from the celestial 
principles of the Word, have true wisdom inscribed on their lives, 
and they immediately perceive whether what they read or hear is 
Truth or falsity ; and when they are asked if it is Truth they 
simply answer that it is true or that it is not true. Thus it is said 
concerning them, "Let your communication be Yea, yea, Nay, 
nay!' This constitutes the celestial degree of the mind, or the 
Third Heaven, which is a state of true wisdom, and is attained in 
this world by all who immediately apply to life the Divine things 
they read or hear from the Word, who turn away from their evils, 
and look to the Lord alone. Such persons, being in innocence, 
appear to others as though they are infants in comparison with 
those who possess the pride of self -intelligence. As they do not 
proclaim their knowledge concerning true wisdom, and do not 
vaunt themselves in their speech, they appear simple to those who 
are in worldly thought ; yet, when they hear a person speak, they 
have a perception of the nature of his affections by the sound of 
his voice, and understand the nature of his intelligence from the 
words of his speech. 

467. The True Worship of the Lord consists in a life of useful- 
ness according to the Precepts of the Word, and is in harmony 
with the Laws of Divine Order, for it is Essential Life. Public 
religious worship without this principle is in itself of no avail in 
salvation from sin, but it becomes Worship to those whose inward 
motives are principled with Love to the Lord and the Neighbor. 

468. In the Old Testament, Divine Worship is represented by 
sacrifices and burnt- offerings, which signify purification from evils 
and falsities, which are replaced by the implantation of Good and 
Truth from the Word, and from the conjunction of these two prin- 
ciples in the External mind, regeneration exists. The man whose 
life is fonnded upon the Good and Truth of the Word, which is 
Love to the Lord and the Neighbor, supplanting the Love of Self 
and the World, is in genuine worship, for purification from evils 
and falses consists in desisting from them, and in shunning and 
holding them in aversion. 



216 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Thinking and willing. Rites and ceremonies, 



469. The implantation of Good and Truth from the Lord by 
the Word, consists in thinking and willing what is Good and 
Truth, and in speaking and doing them ; and the conjunction of 
both, consists in living from these Precepts ; for when Good and 
Truth are united in the regenerating man, he then has anew will 
and a new understanding, and consequently a new life, which is 
the Lord within him. 

470. When a man is thus principled in the life of regeneration 
in every employment in which he is engaged, there is Divine 
Worship, for he then has regard to the Divine Principles of the 
Word in everything which he does. He venerates and loves its 
Precepts, and consequently he worships the Lord who is thus 
revealed to him. 

471. Notwithstanding the amount of external public worship 
a man may engage in, no other principle consists of true worship 
than living according to the Precepts of the Word, for this is true 
Love and Faith. The man who loves another, and who believes 
in him, wishes for nothing more than to will and do what the 
other wills and thinks, for he only desires to know his will and 
thought, and thus what will be pleasing to him. Thus it is with 
love to the Lord. " He that hath my commandments and keepeth 
them, he it is that loveth me." " If ye keep my commandments, ye 
shall abide in my love" " This is my commandment, that ye love 
one another, as I have loved you." Thus the life of Love to the 
Neighbor is the external principle of internal worship, without 
which principle, all public external worship is meaningless to those 
who engage in it. 

472. Yet it is helpful for those who are in exterior natural 
thought, to engage in the rites and ceremonies of external wor- 
ship, even if no interior principle is acknowledged, because all 
things in this outward worship, are representative of the holy 
things of the Word, which must be known and obeyed before the 
Internal Sense can be revealed. Thus the forms of worship of all 
the various religious organizations are helpful to those who engage 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 217 



Danger of formality. Absence of self-intelligence. 

in them, because they become the means of leading their thoughts 
to the Lord by means of forms derived from the Literal Sense of 
the Word. 

473. Where the Internal principle governs the life of the 
regenerating man, he may find the External Form of public wor 
ship helpful, if he can commingle with those whose minds have 
been enlightened concerning the Internal Sense of the Word, and 
in whom the Love of Rule, which is derived from the Love of 
Self, has been overcome. There is always danger that External 
public worship will become inoculated with the " traditions of 
men," by which its Internal principle will become obscured, for 
External worship is only representative of its Internal principle 
by correspondence. 

474. If each member of a religious society would daily study 
the Word, and live according to its Precepts, subduing the Love 
of Self and the Lust of Dominion, looking to the Lord alone, 
desiring to esteem others better than ourselves, and thus be willing 
to serve rather than being ministered, unto, a heavenly sphere 
would be formed which would dispel the tendency to become 
formal and dead. Man has the faculty of knowing more than he 
lives according to, and when he is permitted to see the glimmer- 
ing dawn of the Internal Sense of the Word, there is always 
danger that the pride of self-intelligence will imbue him with a 
Pharisaical spirit, rather than with that true humility which 
acknowledges the Lord alone. 

475. In order to attain a true state of Internal worship, a man 
must entirely relinquish the assertion of himself, and take no 
credit for any good thought or work. His words must be without 
guile, and inviolable and accurate in the most minute statements 
concerning every matter, and in all his dealings with men he 
must be as a living epistle of the Truth of the Word, " known and 
read of all men." The Truth which seems so clear to him, he 
must not force upon others who are not yet able to bear it, but 
he must exercise charity of judgement and adaptation to all for 



218 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



A living epistle. The presence of the Lord. 



the sake of the Truth, and be positive in all righteousness. He 
must not indulge in combative and useless arguments to gratify 
his love for superiority over the attainments of others, u knowing 
that they do gender strife. And the servant of the Lord must 
not strive ; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in 
meekness instructing those " who desire the Truths which they 
see manifested in all his words and actions, and which form the 
corner stone and testimony of his consistent life. * 

476. The Proprium of one man in a religious society, often 
causes such irritation and antagonism, that the sphere of love and 
unity is destroyed ; therefore the Membership of a Society should 
be formed by a careful and discriminate reception of such persons 
who in freedom declare that their sincere endeavor is to live ac- 
cording to the principles upon which it is based, and any devia- 
tion of members from those principles should be at once remon- 
strated with in the spirit of love, and if the antagonism is persisted 
in, such members should be permitted in freedom to withdraw, 
with the expressions of good will from those who remain. 

477. Men who are being regenerated, have their Proprium to 
contend with, until it is entirely put off, and the opinion of every 
man must be held in freedom ; but before becoming a member of 
a religious society, he should consider well its statement of prin- 
ciples, and decide for himself whether he wishes to be governed 
by them, for there must be an orderly government of a religious 
society. 

478. In all religious worship where the Word of God is known> 
it forms the Source of Divine Instruction, and although from the 
Literal Sense alone, any doctrine may be confirmed to favor the 
Proprium of man, yet the Truths of the simple Precepts of Life 
as contained within the Commandments, are everywhere taught, 
and these cause the Lord by means of the Word to be present in 
all forms of worship. 

479. With this principle implanted in the life of the worship- 
pers, all peculiar rites and ceremonies belonging to each religious 



* 2 Tim. 2 : 24, 25. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



219 



Representative worship. The Center of divine worship. 



denomination, are representative of the Spiritual Principles or the 
Word, and they are adapted to the states of those who hold mem- 
bership in the various societies, for the Lord leads all by the quality 
and quantity of spiritual light which they are the most able to 
bear, and the regenerating man whose "Rational Faculty has been 
opened to discern the Interior Truth of the Word, recognizes the 
Guiding Hand of the Lord, and is only filled with thoughts of 
charity towards others, even if they condemn him for not affiliat- 
ing with them in their stated occasions of religious worship. 

480. The Truths of the Word are taught by means of parents,, 
religious teachers, religious books, and by reading directly from 
its pages. All of these means are provided by the Lord, and by 
them, the Truth simply enters the understanding, but not into 
the will or heart ; but when the regenerating man obeys these 
Truths, obedience is turned into love, and thus he is filled with 
Affection for them, and this Good and Truth united internally 
and externally in the mind or life, constitutes the Lord or the 
Word immediately in him, and forms the true principle of Internal 
and External worship. 

481. "For where two or three are gathered together in my 
name, there am I in the midst of them." Where "Two or Three" 
are mentioned in the Word, " Two " is predicated of Good, and 
" Three " of Truth, and in a general sense, these numbers signify 
all who are principled in the Goods and Truths of the Word. 

482. To be principled in Truths,is to knowthem and obey them, 
and to be principled in Goods, is to do them from pure love for 
them because they are from the Lord, and this is the meaning of 
being " gathered together in my name," because " Name " signifies 
the quality of life which results from the conjunction of these 
Divine Principles from the Word in the " midst," or the Kational 
Faculty of regenerating men. Thus the Word is the Lord received 
into the lives of those who love its Truth, and is the Center of 
all Divine Worship, because it is " in the midst of them." 

483. Concerning the nations of this earth, who have not the 
written Word of God, they are in ignorance concerning the prin- 



220 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Gentile worship. Perverted worship. 



<ciples of Good and Truth which are from the Internal Sense, but 
those who obey the Truth according to the light which is infused 
into their minds, which is natural Love to the Neighbor, are in 
the Affection of Natural Good without the Internal principle, and 
they are gifted with a Conscience which is illuminated according 
to whatever true principles of life exist within their religious 
doctrines ; and although their doctrines are not formed from the 
prevailing Literal Word, they are formed from traditions derived 
from this ancient Word. 

484. The Mercy of the Lord is universal and everlasting, and 
is extended to every individual man. The great majority of men 
who are born in this physical world possess no knowledge of, 
or instruction from the Word, and it is not their fault that they 
are ignorant of the Lord who has thus revealed Himself, and not 
having had the Word in this world, they have not profaned its 
Divine Truth. All persons are saved from evil, who live in the 
essential principle of a good natural life from spiritual motives, 
because this is the " ground" in which the Seed of Truth from the 
Word will spring up and bear fruit when they are instructed con- 
cerning its interior principle. A man is responsible for what he 
has the privilege of knowing, from which it may be concluded 
to what a degree of condemnation those persons bring upon them- 
selves in shutting out spiritual light from their minds, who have 
the Word in their possession, and do not regard its Divine 
Oontents. 

IDOL ATE Y. 

485. Idolatry is perverted worship, and contains no inward 
spiritual principle, but its external form is derived from the 
Science of Correspondences, which is the science of representation 
of things in the natural or physical world to illustrate spiritual 
principles. By this Science, it may be known what spiritual 
principles are signified by animals of all kinds, and what by 
mountains, hills, rivers and fountains ; what also by the sun, moon 
and stars ; and thus it may be understood why worshippers 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 221 



The origin of idolatry. The Koran. 



have turned their faces toward the East in their Adoration of 
God, and why they are inclined to make themselves carved im- 
ages of horses, oxen, calves, lambs, birds, fishes, and serpents, and 
place them in their houses and other places, in a certain order, 
according to the spiritual principles of the mind of the regenerat- 
ing man to which they correspond, or which they represent. 

They have placed similar things in their temples, and have 
worshipped the images themselves as sacred, not knowing that 
they are only representative of sacred principles, and to worship 
the representative of a Heavenly Principle is idolatry. 

486. From this perversion of worship have originated the idol- 
atries which have filled the whole earth, as well Asia, as Africa, 
Europe and America. Hence originated the idolatry and mytho- 
logy of ancient Greece, where the Divine Principles were turned 
by that people into the mythological gods, over whom they made 
one supreme, whom they called Jove. The Sacred Writings of 
the Asiatic nations speak of the Deluge, and refer to other partic- 
ulars which are treated of by the law of correspondence in the 
Word, and the mummies of the ancient Egyptian representatives 
are yet extant, and may be seen in museums. 

487. The writings of the Al Koran are received by a large 
number of the Oriental nations, and they acknowledge the Christ 
of the Gospels to be the Son of God, the wisest of men, and the 
greatest of prophets, who came into the world to teach men. These 
religious doctrines were permitted by the Lord to arise, that they 
might be instrumental in extirpating the idolatry of Asia, by their 
accommodation to the genius of the Eastern nations ; for they 
contain principles of Truth to be found in both the Old and New 
Testaments, and all Truth is derived from the Word. 

In the order of spiritual education, the apparent Truth 
that the Lord came into this world in a physical form, first exists 
in the mind so that there may be a conception that He is in the 
Human Form, and thus there is one Being from whom all men 
derive their life. The believers in the Al Koran do not acknow- 
ledge the Son of God as a man to be the God of Heaven and Earth, 



222 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Word is " all in all. 



Spiritual 



music. 



because the Oriental nations believe in one God as the Creator of 
the universe, but do not comprehend how He Himself could come 
into the world and take upon Himself the form of man. 

488. There are many also among the more enlightened nations 
of the world who cannot comprehend how the Lord assumed the 
Human Principle, neither can they discern how He comes and 
enters the world, until they resist the evil of Self-love, and look 
to Him in the Word, do His will, and perceive Him enter their 
own mental world by the Word assuming control over their lives, 
in place of the hereditary evil principles which reign before the 
work of regeneration begins. Then will the Rational Faculty be 
enlightened to see that the Son of God born into the world, is the 
Word given to man, and that the Lord Christ is the Divine Truth 
of the Word from whom all wisdom and intelligence is derived, by 
which the regenerating man " is renewed in knowledge after the 
image of Him that created him," and thus Christ, or the Word 
"is all and in all"* and that Idolatry is Self-Love, or the perverted 
worship of Self. 

MUSIC, AND THE SOUND OF THE VOICE. 

489. In the external forms of religious worship, Yocal and 
Instrumental music have always been employed in "Praising 
God." Music signifies the harmonious conjunction of the will and 
understanding with the Lord by the Truth of the Word, and is 
expressive of joy and gladness for the means of salvation from 
sin. It denotes exaltation and triumph on account of victory 
over spiritual enemies. 

490. This conquering of evil and falsity is the Glorification of 
the Lord ; the entrance of the Lord of Hosts into the External 
mind, and is the manifestation of His Divine Humanity, or the 
Internal Sense of the Word, to the Rational Faculty, which is 
then in glory or illumination from Heaven. "All tlie earth shall 
worship Thee, and shall sing unto Thee ; they shall sing to thy 
name" f 



* Col. 3 : 10, 11. t Ps. 56 : i. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



223 



Th 



e voice in singing. 



Origin of music. 



491. Singing denotes Glorification of the Lord, and to glorify 
the Lord signifies to live in concord with the Truths of the Word, 
from which results a glad recognition that the Lord is the Word, 
for then the heart is in that state of delight which corresponds to 
the expression of praise which bursts forth into song. The 
unition of voices in choirs or chorusses signifies agreement be- 
tween affection and thought, action and speech, or the conjunc- 
tion of spiritual principles in the regenerating man. Sound 
corresponds to the Affections, and the words uttered in speech 
correspond to Thoughts, wherefore Affection utters sound, and 
Thought speaks, and the voice sings the words of praise. 

492. Musical instruments correspond to the delight of the 
Celestial and Spiritual Affections. Wind instruments, of sus- 
tained vibrations, such as the organ, flutes and horns, are expres- 
sive of the Affection of Good, while stringed instruments of 
percussion, such as the harp, or pianoforte, are expressive of the 
Affection of Truth, on account of the correspondence of sonorous 
vibrations with the Affections, and all the different qualities of 
musical tones have a spiritual correspondence. The sound of the 
trumpet signifies the revelation of Divine Truth from the Word. 
In the quality of the tone of the human voice in speech, there is 
an inward indication of the spiritual quality of the person who is 
speaking, so that the sound of a person's voice reveals his interior 
nature to those whose spiritual perceptions are acute, similar to 
the manifestation of character in the expression of the eye, or in 
the features of the countenance. 

493. While the exquisite sense of hearing conveys sounds con- 
taining thoughts to the mind, these sounds are actuated by 
spiritual influences, although in Appearance they seem to originate 
in the physical world ; but as no thought originates in the phy- 
sical world of nature, and as melody and harmony are instru- 
mental in exciting both the Emotional and Intellectual Affections, 
it may be clearly evident that Music does not originate in the 
natural world, but is a euphonious blessing descending from 
Heaven to assist in leading the material thoughts of men to those 



: 



224 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The ear. 



Glorification. 



Celestial and Spiritual principles from which it is derived, and to 
which it corresponds. When a man speaks, although the sound 
of his voice is heard in the natural world, yet the thoughts which 
lay within the sound, originate in that spiritual world in which 
his mind lives. 

494. The ear receives the sound of the voice, and discerns the 
thoughts which are thus conveyed. Words uttered by the voice 
which do not contain thoughts are dead sounds. Thoughts con- 
cerning principles or doctrines which do not contain Living Truths 
are also dead. Hearing signifies perception of the Truth, and 
obedience to its commands, for the ear receives the sounds which 
contain words ; and words contain thoughts ; and thoughts trans- 
mit Truths from the Word, which are presented before the Con- 
science to be incorporated into the life, so that the Lord may be 
glorified in the regenerated life of man. Thus it is said in the 
Word, " If any man have ears to hear, Let him hear." 

495. Sacred Song, expressed in holy anthems and hymns of 
praise, when devoutly used in the rites and forms of External 
Public Worship, becomes truly representative of the Celestial and 
Spiritual principles of Internal worship, and is like a Triumphal 
Car which conveys the King of Kings, the Divine Truth of the 
Word, to the receptive mind through the gateway of the sense of 
hearing. The acceptance of this Truth, by living in obedience to 
its teachings, will lead to that State of the delight of the Spiritual 
Affections which the Melody, Harmony and Quality of musical 
sounds express. 



496. The glorification of the Lord takes place in the elevation 
of man's spiritual nature to the perception of Heavenly principles 
within the Word, and the regenerating man gives praise and 
" glory " to the Lord, when in his heart he acknowledges that 
there is nothing Good in and of himself, and that he can do 
nothing from himself, because he perceives that all Good is from 
the Lord, and that He is Omnipotent. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



225 



Constant humiliation. Glory. 

497. When a man is in this state, the Lord gradually removes 
his Proprium in which his Self-love resides, and his Internal 
mind is opened so that the Divine Love and Wisdom can enter 
with power ; hence it is necessary that every man should be in a 
constant state of humiliation concerning himself, in order that a 
true acknowledgment of the Lord as the Word, shall enter the 
mind. 

498. In the Order of Regeneration by the Internal Sense of the 
Word, the Divine Truth enters the Rational Faculty and thence 
into the External mind, redeeming from evil and falsity, which 
are thereby removed, so that the Heavenly Principles of the Word 
are exalted, and " the multitude of the heavenly host," the know- 
ledges of Good and Truth within the regenerating man, cause 
him to praise the Lord from internal perception, and thus by his 
life proclaim the ascription, " Gloria in excelsis Deo ! " 

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good 
will toward men. Luke 2 : 14 

499. This ascription of praise signifies that the en- 
lightened Rational Faculty of the regenerating man 
perceives the Word in its Interior Divine Light, which 
shines as " Glory" from the Lord by means of the Reve- 
lation to the mind of the Internal Sense, because the 
Lord is the Word, and the Internal Sense is in the Light 
of Heaven which proceeds from the Lord as a Sun, 
which Light is the Divine Truth descending through the 
highest or inmost principle of the Internal mind. 

500. The " earth " refers to the External mind which 
is filled with tranquillity and delight arising from this 
interior perception of the Word, when this mind does 
not rest in the Appearance of Truth, and is not in con- 



226 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



States of peace. Angels and spirits. 

fliction with the Rational Faculty. While the regener- 
ating man is engaged in temptations and combats with 
his spiritual enemies, there are intervening states of 
peace, when the Lord opens his interior perceptions. 

'501. " Good will toward men," signifies that the will 
is now made receptive of the Divine Love, which is also 
perceived by the Rational Faculty, and that it is Infinite 
toward all "men," or the spiritual principles which con- 
stitute men, for the opening of the Internal Sense of the 
Word to the regenerating man, reveals that the laws of 
the spiritual world within the Word are Laws of Divine 
Order, and thus the "pearl of great price" has been 
found. Thus the " multitude of the heavenly host," the 
angels and spirits 'of the Word, or its Goods and Truths 
actuating the spiritual life of the regenerating man, 
glorify the Lord and bring peace to the conflictions in 
the External mind when his thoughts are ruled by love, 
and all his words and acts are expressions of "good- 
will." 

THE INFLUENCE OF ANGELS AND SPIRITS. 

502. Every regenerating man is taught and governed by the 
Lord by means of Angels and Spirits, although this fact is not 
apparent while he is in the material degree of thought concerning 
the Word, but when the Internal Sense is revealed to him he is 
in constant and sensible communication with angels, because the 
sight of his spirit is open to perceive the things or principles of 
the Spiritual World, for he is a spirit, and his mind is then in the 
spiritual world of thought. Man, of hiruself alone, cannot act 
otherwise than wickedly, and avert himself from the Lord, being 
incited by the evil spirits of his own nature ; for all evil spirits 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



227 



The ministry of angels. The spiritual eye. 

thus act from the evil itself which they have done and have 
incorporated into their lives. Notwithstanding these influences, 
every man is responsible for the evil he does, and in his own free- 
dom turns himself away from the Lord who never changes in His 
Love, for He alone gives life to men that He may bless them : and 
yet man of himself alone, in his own strength, cannot possibly 
live righteously and turn toward the Lord, excepting by the 
ministry of Angels. Angelic men cannot live or think excepting 
from the Lord alone, for they are celestial and spiritual men 
whose hereditary Proprium has been overcome and supplanted by 
a Heavenly Proprium. While a man is living merely in the 
natural world of thought, he does not perceive the influence of 
Angels and Spirits, because he is in a state of freedom between 
good and evil, so that he may turn to the Lord as though he had 
all the power in himself, and if he then felt that he was in any 
way influenced to will and think, it would tend to destroy that 
freedom which the Lord sacredly preserves with every man to 
eternity. 

503. It will not be difficult to comprehend the fact of angelic 
influences, when it is considered that all our knowledge of earthly 
things has been infused into our minds by other men who have 
lived, or are yet living in this world, by means of written thoughts 
in books, or by immediate teaching, for these men have been, or 
are, spirits within the physical frame. The Lord has permitted 
regenerating men on earth to see Angels and Spirits, or the 
Celestial principles of Good and the Spiritual principles of Truth, 
which they represent as they exist in the Word, by means of the 
opening of the spiritual sight, or the Rational Faculty, when it is 
needful for the Interior principles of Divine Revelation to be dis- 
closed, in order that man in his regeneration may perceive the 
Laws of Divine Order, and his faith in the Word be more fully 
established. 

504. The Eye of the Understanding which looks into the 
Spiritual World of the Word, and there sees the Angels and Spirits, 
is the Rational Faculty in intelligent order of thought. The 



228 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Spirits looking through the eyes of others. The " dead.' r 



" spirits of the departed " are sometimes permitted to see the 
things of the natural world through the spiritual eyes of other 
men. or through their Rational Faculty, which first feeds upon 
things of material thought from the Literal Sense of the Word. 
The " spirits of the departed," here signify the Understanding of 
those regenerating men who have been elevated above material 
thought concerning the Word. When a man whose Rational 
Faculty has been enlightened, writes intelligently, or discourses 
rationally concerning the material things of the Literal Sense of 
the Word, the spiritual eyes of other regenerating men who have 
" risen from the dead," may, through these materially expressed 
ideas, look into the natural world of thought as represented in 
the Literal Sense of the Word, and see its coherence and life from 
Internal Spiritual Principles, which the enlightened reader may 
perceive in perusing the material words of these pages, if he is in 
a life of obedience to the Truths of the Word, and if he sees that 
these thoughts are true in his own experience. 

505. If all men were principled in love and faith in the Lord 
by means of the Word, they could then perceive the reality of the 
communion of angels and spirits with man, but it is injurious to 
the spiritual welfare to seek communication with the dead, for 
then the mind turns to creatures rather than to the Creator, and 
is not led to the Creator and Source of spiritual life, the Word, 
for Divine guidance. The Communion of Angels and Spirits with 
man is Spiritual Instruction by means of the Goods and Truths 
of the Word. 

506. No angel ever manifests himself to the man wlio seeks 
intercourse with the " dead," for angels desire to lead men to the 
Lord, while evil spirits seek to avert them from heavenly life and 
lead them into evil, and such is their influence over a man who 
permits himself to be led by them, that they assume angelic 
wisdom and appear as angels of light, so that he who looks to 
the " dead," is deceived, and becomes more and more credulous, 
until he believes in principles which are utterly opposed to the 
Laws of Order, and is even led to believe in what is termed the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



229 



Materialism. The two angels. 

de-materialization of disembodied spirits, or in their assuming at 
will the physical substances of the corporeal frame and then dis- 
sipating them. 

507. Thus instead of being led to the Word and to its Interior 
Principles, he becomes a materialist in thought. Departed spirits 
do not again assume the conditions or substances of natural 
existence, because they have entered a spiritual degree of life 
with which there is no connection with the things of this world 
excepting by the laws of correspondence. 

508. If a man should look to the "dead," or to those who 
assume that they are in communication with them, for information 
concerning the future events of his earthly life, he would be in 
great danger of losing his spiritual freedom, by means of which 
only he can be regenerated, and he would then become the vict ; m 
of hallucinations which originate from the evil spirits of the Pro- 
prium who desire to communicate with the affections of those who 
seek them instead of the Lord. They take upon them such form 
and fraudulent representation, that their emanations often appear 
to be from good spirits who have entered the succeeding life, but 
who never seek to communicate with the unregenerated Proprium 
of man, for they have passed from this natural state of existence, 
and have no more identity with the events or persons who are in 
this physical world, than we are aware of their surroundings and 
circumstances in the world to which they have been removed. 

509. The preceding thoughts concerning the influences of angels 
and spirits have reference to the natural or literal meaning of the 
words " angels " and " spirits," which in their essence are the prin- 
ciples of Good and Truth from the Word, which re-create the will 
and understanding of regenerated men. These are the Two Angels 
who are ever attendant upon the regenerating man to lead him 
to the Lord. 

510. As the recipient vessel signifies the same as that which it 
contains, so regenerating men who are receptacles of Good and 
Truth from the Word are also to be understood as Angels or 
Spirits, according to the quality of their atfection of Good or 



230 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Evil Spirits. Angela 

Truth ; but Evil Spirits are the evil and false principles of the 
Proprium, which exist from the Love of Self and the World, and 
which influence the Affections and Thoughts of unregenerated 
men, therefore men who are governed by their own hereditary 
natures, are also to be understood by evil and false spirits. The 
" Dead," signifies those evil and false principles of the Proprium 
which are destructive to spiritual life, which have been overcome 
and removed, while " Departed Spirits " signify those who have 
departed from, or have rejected their evils and falses, and have 
become recipients of the Truths of the Word, of whom it is said, 
" The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves 
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth!' "And the grave* 
were opened ; and many bodies of the saints which slept, arose, 
and came out of the graves after the resurrection, and went into 
the holy city and appeared unto many." " The hour is coming, 
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, 
and they that hear shall live." 

511. In the highest sense, by an " Angel" is understood the 
Lord, who is the Inmost Life within the Word, from whom all 
Love and Wisdom proceeds, and by "angels" and "spirits" is 
understood the Good and Truth which is from Him with angelic 
men, in whose lives Love and Wisdom from the Word have been 
implanted. Good and Truth are in the knowledges which are 
derived from the Word, whereby regeneration enters the External 
mind, and when these knowledges are obeyed from a living spiri- 
tual principle within the regenerating man, they become Truths, 
but if they are not vivified by a spiritual principle of obedience 
by which they are made alive, they become merely Scientifics, or 
external knowledges of the Literal Sense of the Word. 

512. Thus when "Angels" are mentioned in the Word, the 
mind is to be abstracted from the natural thought of angelic 
persons, and the spiritual principle which the name represents, is 
to be understood, and this same method of interpretation is to be 
used concerning the Internal Sense in all parts of the Word, in 
order that the mind may perceive the spiritual truths which are. 
there first personified to the state of natural thought. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



£31 



Progression. Confirmation. 



And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from 
them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, 
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing 
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made 
known unto US. Luke 2:15. 

513. "And it came to pass," signifies progression in 
the life of regeneration. "As the angels were gone 
away from them into heaven," signifies more interior 
perception of the Good and Truth of the Word in the 
Rational Faculty, which is illuminated from the Internal 
mind, or " Heaven." The " shepherds said one to 
another," signifies that in the comparison of the Truths 
of the Word which lead the regenerating man to the life 
of obedience, the perception of their Divine origin by 
means of the Internal Sense becomes more evident. 

514. "Let us go," signifies the desire for further 
illumination in the progress of regeneration. "Even 
unto Bethlehem," signifies the confirmation of these 
Interior principles within the illuminated Eational 
Faculty. "And see this thing which has come to pass," 
signifies that the confirmation of these Interior principles 
is to be established by a careful study of the Word, in 
which only "this thing," or these principles may be seen 
within the Literal Sense which holds the spiritual con- 
tents. "Which the Lord hath made known unto us," 
signifies that the True Divinity of the Word is from the 
Internal Sense, which can be revealed by the Lord alone 
to the man whose life is filled with Affection for its 
Living Precepts ; for self-intelligence cannot discover 
the Life which is within the Internal Sense. 



232 THE FACE OF JESUS: 

Coming with haste. The espoused Mary. 



And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, 
and the babe lying in a manger. Luke 2:16. 

515. "And they came with haste," signifies that the 
confirmation of the Interior principles of the Word is 
certain, and that they will be fully established in the 
mind of the regenerating man, for in the Internal Sense 
" to come with haste" does not denote "quickly," but 
" surely." Hastening involves time, and in the spiritual 
world there is no Time, but instead of time there is 
State. Thus the coming "with haste" relates to a cor- 
respondent quality of state of the " Shepherds," or the 
Truths of the Word in the regenerating man, which lead 
to Good, or to a perception of the Internal Sense, which 
is a result from the Affection of Truth, and these "Shep- 
herds" find "Mary and Joseph." 

516. " Mary" here signifies the Affection for the Truths 
of the Literal Sense of the Word in the External mind, 
within which the conception occurs. "Joseph" here 
signifies the perception of the Eational Faculty which 
perceives the Divine Truth of the Internal Sense The 
Divine Truth of the Internal Sense is the Lord's Divine 
Humanity, or the Divinity of the Word made Living 
within the regenerating man. 

517. As "Mary" is the espoused wife of "Joseph" 
at this time, or state, the mentioning of the two words, 
or principles together, signifies the conjunction of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, by the Affection for its Truths 
in the External mind of the regenerating man, with the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 233 



Joseph is not the father. Succession of life. 

perception of the Spiritual Sense within, in the Rational 
Faculty, which, like Joseph, protects and provides for 
"the Babe lying in the manger." Although "Joseph" 
is not the father of the child, the regenerating man recog- 
nizes that the Divine Love flowing through the Internal 
mind into the Eational Faculty, is the Father, and that 
this Internal Principle which is conceived from the 
Father and born from the Affection for the Truths of 
the Word, is the Holy Child which is now " lying in the 
manger." 

THE ORDER OF SPIRITUAL DESCENT. 

518. In the succession of human life, man receives through his 
father, his very soul or life in the order of hereditary descent, and 
from his mother he derives not only the external covering which 
constitutes the physical frame, but also the corporeal or material 
principle of the External mind. The soul itself is implanted 
through descent from the father, which begins to be clothed with 
a physical form from within the mother, from whom it thereafter 
entirely derives its nourishment and growth, until after its birth 
in the world, and in due time according to the order of natural 
life, the child lives independently of the mother's nourishment. 

519. In the same order of re-creation, according to the laws of 
spiritual correspondence, the Internal mind of regenerating men 
is from the Divine Love of the Father by the Internal Sense of 
the Word. The enlightened Rational Faculty which receives the 
Divine Truth of the Word is the Son of God ; for the receptacle 
of the Word becomes of the same quality and nature as the Truth 
which it holds. The child is formed and nourished by the Affec- 
tion for the Truths of the Literal Sense of the Word which have 
been received into the External mind, which are the material 
substances from which the spiritual body of the Divine Infant is 
developed in the regenerating man. By the expression "material 



234 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Material substances. Righteousness. 



substances" is not meant physical substances, but the exterior or 
material principles of the mind which receive the Exterior Truths 
or Literal Sense of the Word, and which is commonly understood 
under the expression of " Material Thought." The expressions of 
the Word when thought of only as physical occurrences, occupy 
the plane of material thought. 

520. At the time or state of the birth of the Divine Truth in 
the Rational Faculty, the External mind still contains the hered- 
itary principle of the Proprium, which is to be supplanted by the 
growth of the child Jesus within the regenerating man. The 
work of regeneration is to be accomplished by putting off the 
hereditary Proprium, so that the External mind may be united 
to the Internal by means of the intermediate Rational Faculty, 
and the progress of this conjunction is signified by the developing 
life of the Lord Jesus in the world of the regenerating man's 
spiritual experience, as it is given in the representative history 
contained in the Literal Sense of the Word. 

521. The Internal Principle of this re-created life is the Father, 
and the Babe is now "lying in the manger," to receive instruction 
from the principles of the Internal Sense of the Word which are 
to nourish and strengthen the child Jesus, in entering and over- 
coming the hereditary Proprium of the External mind, through 
combats and temptations, by which the evil tendencies are to be 
subdued. Thus the Righteousness of God will be fulfilled, and 
the External mind redeemed from iniquity. As this is the work 
of the Lord in the regenerating man, there can be neither self- 
righteousness nor self-intelligence implanted where He reigns, for 
the Lord by acts of redemption in overcoming evil in man makes 
Himself the Righteousness of man. " And this is His name 
whereby He shall be called : The Lord our Righteousness." 

522. Righteousness is acquired by exercising the works of 
righteousnes, which are, to shun all evil, look to the Lord by the 
study of, and obedience, to the Precepts of the Word, and in all 
things fulfilling the law of Love to the Neighbor. Thus a man 
will show his faith by his works, for " every tree is known by its 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



235 



Assuming humanity. 



Primary truths. 



fruits," and " except your righteousness shall exceed the righteous- 
ness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into 
the kingdom of heaven." 

523. By these acts of righteousness or redemption in the regen- 
erating man, the hereditary evil in the Proprium of the External 
mind is to be overcome, so that the Lord can descend from the 
Internal mind into the External, and there assume the place occu- 
pied by the Proprium as it is resisted and removed. In this order 
the Literal Sense of the Word is made Living or Spiritual, and 
the External mind is gradually united to the Internal, as the- 
Divine Truth of the Internal Sense is revealed and developed in 
the life. Thus the Lord assumes the Humanity and makes it 
Divine in every regenerating man. 

524. The conjunction of the Lord with the External mind must 
be mutual and reciprocal on the part of man, and is effected by 
his acceding to the Lord, and the Lord to him ; for it is a fixed 
and immutable law, that as far as man accedes to the Lord, or 
voluntarily resists and removes his evils, so far the Lord accedes 
to him, for He seeks to enter all men with spiritual heat and 
light, which is Goodness and Truth from the Word. Thus God 
becomes Man, and man becomes filled with God in one person, 
and as the Interior life is not his own, he becomes a Divine man, 
or an angel in Heaven ; thus an angelic man is formed by the 
Word. 

525. When the Literal Truths of the Word are filled with life by 
obedience to them, the regenerating man is actuated by the Affec- 
tion of Truth from which the Son of Man is born, and when the- 
Internal Sense is revealed in the Word to the Rational Faculty, 
the Son of God is disclosed, for He is the Internal Divine Truth 
of the Word manifested in the "flesh" or will of the regenerating 
man. 

526. The perception of the Lord in the Rational Faculty is 
first born from the primary Truths of the Literal Sense which are 
written according to the Appearances of Truth, as they seem to 
the hereditary nature of man. As evil is overcome, the Lord 



236 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Dissipation of appearances. Order of regeneration. 

•enters from the Internal mind through the Rational Faculty by 
the Internal Truth of His Word, and the Appearances of Truth 
which exist in the External mind concerning the Literal Sense of 
the Word are gradually dissipated. Thus the Lord in the regen- 
erating man successively puts off all the hereditary material 
principle of thought of the Word, the human principle derived 
from the " Mother Mary," as it exists in the External mind which 
is derived from the natural human mother. 

528. The soul which descends through the natural father is the 
real man, but the covering which is formed from the natural 
mother, exists only from the soul within it. The external cover- 
ing of the soul, or the spiritual body which holds it — the External 
mind — is fed and sustained at first by natural principles of 
thought, such as exist in the Literal Sense of the Word. 

529. When the corporeal principle of the Proprium, which was 
from the natural mother by hereditary descent, perishes, or when 
the hereditary material human principle of the External mind is 
dissipated, as the Literal Sense of the Word is shown to have no 
life in itself alone, the Soul or Internal principle of man is awak- 
ened by the perception of the Internal Sense of the Word, and 
lives in spiritual life to Eternity. Death must precede resurrec- 
tion, and with those who attain any advanced degree of the life 
•of regeneration, this death of the merely natural principle of the 
mind, takes place previous to the opening of the spiritual eyes, or 
Rational Faculty. 

539. During the process of regeneration, the perception of the 
Divine Principle within the Word is in a state of obscurity and 
humiliation, which is represented in the Gospel by the sufferings 
of the Son of Man, and which is described in many places in the 
Prophecies and the Psalms. 

531. The Order of Regeneration of every man must proceed 
from natural ideas to spiritual perceptions concerning the Word, 
because he is first born into the natural world of thought, and 
the External mind is formed from natural and material ideas of 
things by means of the natural senses. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



,237 



The Lord is King. The babe in the manger, 

532. When the Interior Principles of the Word have enabled 
the regenerating man to overcome the hereditary evil of the Pro- 
prium, the Lord will reign as King over the External mind from 
its union with the Internal mind. The conjunction of these two- 
principles of the mind constitute the regenerated man, which is 
the glorification of the Lord in man, and is represented by the 
Resurrection. 

533. When such a state of conjunction shall be attained by 
means of the Living Principles revealed in the Internal Sense of 
the Word, the regenerating man will act from the Lord in free- 
dom with all the power of his individuality, and all the Good 
which he will then will and do, and all the Truth which he will 
then think and speak, will be inscribed upon his heart, or in his 
Will, and thence it will be inwardly in all his actions and speech* 

534. Thus the Son of God in the regenerating man will be 
united to the Father, and the Father to him, and the Human 
Principle of the Word will be made Divine, because its Internal 
Sense is not only perceived within the Literal Sense, but these 
Interior principles have been incorporated into the life. Then 
the regenerated man will use all things according to order, with- 
out being tempted to sin, because his whole life will be the Lord 
in him, and he will be free from bondage to his Proprium, for 
" If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." 

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad 
the saying which was told them concerning this child. 
Luke 2:17. 

535. The " Shepherds," or Truths of the Literal Sense 
in the External mind of the regenerating man have led 
the Rational Faculty to perceive the " babe lying in the 
manger," which is the Infant Jesus, or the innocent state 
of Affection for the more Interior Truths of the Word, 
for which the Eational Faculty is awaiting clearer reve- 



238 



TEE FACE OF JESUS: 



Making known abroad. Children. 

lation. " Abroad " signifies external principles, because 
removed from the center. To make "known abroad," 
signifies the perception of the Eational Faculty, which 
now from the External or Literal Sense of the Word 
discerns its Internal principles, which are contained 
within the Exterior natural expressions, and are now 
clearly "made known" or disclosed to the External 
mind. 

536. Internal principles are made known to the Ex- 
ternal mind whenever a regenerating man views any 
earthly objects with his physical eyes, and is thence led 
to think of the spiritual principles of the Word. The 
eye itself is the sight of the spirit making "known 
abroad," or looking into the natural world, and this 
23rincipally with the object that from external things he 
may perceive internal principles, so that from objects 
in this world he may continually be led to reflect on the 
realities of the spiritual world and Eternal Life, because 
it is for the sake of that life that he was created and 
lives for a short time in this world. 

537. " The saying which was told them concerning 
this child," signifies that the perception of this Divine 
Kevelation by the Eational Faculty is received into the 
innocent state of the Interior Affections represented by 
the " Child." The innocent are those who are in the 
Interior Affection of Good, and this is the state of inno- 
cence of those who are in mature thought concerning the 
Interior principles of the Word. Innocence consists in 
acknowledging the Lord, or the Truths of the Word, and 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



239 



The Corporeal, or Sensual principle. Death and life. 

believing by obedience that all Goodness and Truth are 
from Him by the Word ; and thus there exists a state 
of willingness to be led by the Lord, and not by Self. 

THE CORPOREAL PRINCIPLE OF THE MIND. 

538. The Corporeal Principle of the External mind is simply a 
receptacle of sensations communicated by means of the external 
senses which act through the corporeal-physical frame. When 
these senses cease to act, the physical body dies and turns to cor- 
ruption. The physical frame is simply a mechanical instrument 
through which the corporeal principle acts, this principle being 
the most exterior of the mind, and they are so intimately con- 
nected that they act in unity. "When merely natural thought dies, 
the corporeal principle of the External mind still exists with its 
senses, so that this death is not destruction, but is the entrance to a 
more acute perception of life, which actuates the corporeal principle. 

539. In the Word, the corporeal things of the physical frame 
are in no case to be understood when they are mentioned, but the 
corresponding spiritual principle, — even when the operation of 
any of the senses is mentioned, — is to be perceived, which belongs 
to interior thought, to which the senses are but instruments of 
communication. The external sensual principle, or senses, have 
relation to the Internal senses or perceptions, and the external 
senses operate through the nervous system of the physical frame, 
in order that they may serve the Interior principles of the mind 
during the life in this world. 

540. If these corporeal senses of the natural mind rule over the 
Internal perceptions, the man is in a state of spiritual death, but 
regeneration reverses this order and awakens the Internal percep- 
tions into life, and when Internal principles govern the External, 
the regenerating man lives according to the laws of Divine Order. 
The Internal principles of the mind can only be perceived by 
means of the Internal Sense of the Word, by which man alone has 
spiritual life. 



240 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Sight and hearing. Wondering, 

541. All the senses have relation to the Will and Understand- 
ing, and therefore to the Internal principles of the mind. The 
Sense of Sight has especial reference to the Intellectual principle, 
or Understanding, and this is the first perception that is active in 
the order of regeneration, for, by the Internal Light, the Conscience 
is awakened to perceive the Divine Truth of the Word ; conse- 
quently it belongs to the Intellectual or Rational Faculty to be- 
lieve, to acknowledge, to know, and to see the Truth, and also 
what is Good, and this is true Faith. 

542. The Sense of Hearing has reference to the Will as well as 
to the Understanding, and denotes obedience from Affection, be- 
cause what is heard, passes into the Internal Sight, or Under- 
standing, where it is conjoined to the Will, and is carried forth 
into act, or life. Hearing, therefore, implies perception and 
obedience. 

543. The Natural principle of the mind is much more easily 
persuaded and influenced by the spoken and eloquent words of a 
speaker than in personal reading, because the tones of the voice, 
being received by the ear, affect the emotional nature which exists 
from the Will, or Affection ; but when the Rational Faculty of 
the regenerating man is opened, he spiritually hears every Divine 
Truth of the Word that is presented to his understanding, for he 
not only perceives the Truth, but he obeys it, and needs no phy- 
sical voice to either persuade or enlighten him, for he has the 
Word, which is the Voice and Mouth of the Lord. 

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which 
were told them by the shepherds. Luke 2:18. 

544. "All thuy that heard it," signifies that the In- 
ternal principles of the regenerating man, acknowledge, 
perceive, and obey the Internal principles of the Word. 
" Wondered " also signifies a state of perception, and 
these Internal principles have been revealed to the 
Eational Faculty by the " shepherds," or Truths of the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



241 



Keeping the testimonies. Pondering. 

Word, which having been obeyed in Loving the Lord 
and the Neighbor, have led to the perception of the 
Internal Sense of the Word. 

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in 
her heart. Luke 2 : 19. 

545. As previously illustrated, "Mary," or "mother," 
signifies the Affection for the Truths of the Literal Sense 
of the Word, which exists in the External mind, and 
that all "these things" or principles have been "kept" 
or lived according to by the regenerating man to whom 
the Internal Sense of the Word has been revealed. 
" My mother and my brethren are thesz which hear the 
Word of God, and do it." " Blessed are they that keep 
His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart" 

546. To "ponder them in the heart," signifies to think 
interiorly concerning the Truths of the Word of Gocl. 
The "heart" denotes the life of Affection for the Good 
and Truth of the Word, and the regenerating man hav- 
ing endeavoured to keep these Literal Precepts, is filled 
with love for the Divine Truths which now appear, and 
his meditation is concerning them, for they begin to 
develop his mind with rational intelligence concerning 
spiritual principles. " 0 how I love Thy law! it is my 
meditation all the day" 

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God 
for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it 
was told unto them. Luke 2 : 20. 

547. By "the shepherds returned," is signified the 
application of these Interior Truths of the Word to life 



242 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Glorifying. Praising God. 

and thought, in order that all natural ideas derived from 
the sense of the Letter of the Word, shall be instructive 
to the Eational Faculty, and from these " things" all 
external objects of the physical world shall be suggestive 
of Spiritual Principles. 

548. " Glorifying," signifies the union of the Internal 
mind with the External by means of the enlightened 
Rational Faculty, which perceives the Internal Sense of 
the Word, within its External or Literal Sense. This 
union is not effected at once, but successively through 
the Six Days of Creation, during which the External 
mind is in continual progress toward union with the 
Internal, and becomes Divine when both are absolutely 
united in the Seventh Day, when the regenerating man 
has become an angel. 

549. " Praising God," signifies true Internal worship 
of the Lord, which results from the union of the Good 
and Truth of the Word in the Will and Understanding, 
by which the regenerating man is saved from all his evils, 
which salvation he acknowledges to be by means of the 
Word which is from the Lord alone. Thus he ascribes 
all glory and praise unto the Lord for all the principles 
which have been revealed in the Word, and which have 
been obeyed and manifested in the life, for when the 
Internal mind is filled with Affection for the Good and 
Truth of the Word, the External mind must manifest it 
through the spiritual body, and thence through the 
physical frame, toward his fellow-men in his speech 
and actions. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



243 



Telling. Natural thought. 

550. "As it was told unto them," signifies the per- 
ception of these Interior principles of the Word, for 
Perception is an internal " telling," wherefore to " per- 
ceive," in the historical narrative of the Word is expressed 
by "telling," and also by "saying," as may frequently be 
found in both the Old and New Testaments. 

THE MATERIAL BODY OF THE LORD. 

551. The nature of the External mind of man is such, that he 
is incapable of forming an idea of thought concerning abstract 
principles unless he associates them with natural ideas which 
enter from the tangible things of the physical world, by means of 
sensual objects, or such things which are perceived by the external 
senses. Therefore, lest all conception of the Divine Nature of the 
Lord should perish with men whose thoughts are entirely im- 
mersed in corporeal and worldly ideas, the Lord Jesus Christ, or 
Jehovah, has manifested Himself by the Word. First, according 
to the thoughts of the natural mind in the Literal Sense of the 
Word, which is written according to natural ideas of objects in 
this world, whereby the External mind may gather the primary 
principles of spiritual life as declared in the Ten Commandments. 
If nothing more had been given to man than the Literal Ten 
Commandments, he could be saved from his sins by means of 
their entrance into his life, but he would have no spiritual history 
to study, within which there is an Internal Sense which reveals 
the principles and order of different states of regeneration. 

552. All the historical narrations and prophetic utterances of 
the Word in the Literal Sense, are the earthly or material clothing 
of the Internal Sense, in which the Lord more fully reveals Him- 
self as He appears in Heaven, as the Word, or Divine Man, for as 
it has been previously illustrated, the Word in the Internal Sense 
is in the Divine Human Form, because it is the Lord Himself. 



244 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Assuming humanity. 



Hereditary thought 



When He enters the natural mind by the Literal Sense, obedience 
to the Literal Truths prepares the Rational Faculty to perceive 
its Interior meaning, which reveals that the Lord is the Word, 
who takes upon Himself the hereditary nature of man, by assum- 
ing the corporeal principle of the Literal Sense which is received 
by the natural External mind. 

553. By the correspondence of spiritual principles with natural 
facts in the order of regeneration, the Lord is born as another man 
in every respect within the Interior life of the regenerating man, 
who advances from obscurity to clearer perceptions of the Divine 
Truth. Jehovah is the Father of this Interior Divine Life, which 
is the Son of God, or the Interior Truth of the Word, which is. 
made Living by affectionate obedience. The Virgin Mother from 
whom the Lord is born in man, is the Affection for the Truth of 
the Literal Sense of the Word. The Literal Sense is the sensual 
or corporeal principle of spiritual truth which fills its correspond- 
ing receptacle in the sensual or corporeal principle of the External 
mind of the regenerating man, who is elevated from this sensual 
or material principle of thought, when he perceives that the In- 
ternal Sense is from the Lord, and that it is the Lord uniting man 
to Himself by the Word ; and thus the Infinite Nature of the 
Lord or the Word, differs from finite men, because He is Divine 
in Himself, and men are only receptacles of this Life. 

554. In the first state of regeneration, the External mind thinks 
from the sensual or corporeal principle concerning the Word, and 
rests in the Appearances of Truth there recorded. This corporeal 
principle of thought exists from the hereditary evil derived from 
the mother, or natural parentage, which closes spiritual perception^ 
and which is only opened through the orderly progress of regen- 
eration. In this corporeal state of thought, the mind only recog- 
nizes the corresponding corporeal principle of the Word, which is 
given to man in this form, so that the Lord may reach every con- 
dition of thought whereby the regenerating man may be led from 
sensual ideas to spiritual thought, and be saved from his sins. 
Thus the corporeal Appearances of Truth which attribute perverse 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 245 



Assuming perverse attributes. Man only is evil. 



qualities to the Nature of God on account of the perverse nature 
of man, by correspondence with the corporeal principles in the 
unregenerated Proprium, constitutes the hereditary evil which 
adheres to the personification of the Son «of Man in the Word, 
which is tempted, suffers, and is crucified, for only evil principles 
can be tempted, or suffer, or be killed. 

555. When the Internal Sense of the Word is revealed to the 
regenerating man who is undergoing the preparatory trials and 
temptations, the perverse qualities represented in the Appearances 
of Truth are shown to be falsities, which exist in the Literal 
Sense on account of the evil nature of man, and these Appearances 
are dissipated when he understands the nature of and overcomes 
his Proprium. Thus the Lord, in the Word, assumes the heredi- 
tary evil nature of man, and bears the iniquities and evils of 
mankind, in the Appearances of Truth, so that He might reach 
men in their lowest ideas of thought and redeem them from sin. 

556. When the regenerating man is enlightened as to the True 
Nature of the W T ord, aud his own fallacies are removed, he per- 
ceives the spiritual significance of the Resurrection of the Lord, 
and discerns in what manner the Corporeal Body of the Lord is 
dissipated, in which were the Appearances of Truth; but the Actual 
Truths of the Literal Sense as embodied in the Precepts of Love 
to the Lord and the Neighbor, constitute the Material Substance 
of the Word, and form the Material Body which is made Divine 
in the regenerating man, and which ascends with its Material 
" flesh and bones " into Heaven. 

557. The Divine Nature of the Lord, which is the Internal Life 
of the Word, is not susceptible of evil, but in order to enable man 
to overcome evil with the strength which He can impart from 
the Word, which finite man cannot possess in himself, because he 
is only evil, the Lord is born in the " earth " as another man, in 
His Own Word, and thence in the regenerating man by the 
spiritual correspondence of the conception and birth in the order 
of physical life ; by the Appearance of Truth in the Word, for the 
sake of man, he has taken upon Himself the sins and infirmities 



246 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Taking our infirmities. 



The Divine Man. 



of men, and bears them, " That it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmi- 
ties and bare our sicknesses!' 

558. Thus the Son of God is conceived, is carried in the womb, 
and is born in the perception of the Rational Faculty of regene- 
rating men as other men are born into this physical life, by the 
correspondence of the spiritual principles of the Word received 
into the life; and by the same laws of correspondence in this 
spiritual personification of the entrance of the Lord into the re- 
generating man as the " Holy Child," He is instructed as another 
man in the growth of the spiritual perception, and continually 
advances in Heavenly knowledge, to the end that men may attain 
the highest degree of' life for which they were created. Thus, in 
assuming the Human Principal of the Word, the Lord becomes a 
Man like a man in the world of natural thought, with this excep- 
tion, that in entering man and progressing from infancy to man- 
hood in the order of regeneration, He is Infinite and Uncreated, 
while the man whom He enters is a finite created receptacle of 
this Divine Life from the Word. 

559. The Lord assumes the Humanity of the Word in the* 
External mind of the regenerating man as rapidly as he desists 
from evil and relinquishes his Proprium, which is accomplished 
by shunning evil and resisting temptation, and acknowledging 
the Lord alone to be the Giver of spiritual life and strength by 
means of the Word. The Lord is not to be thought of as in & 
corporeal frame like a physical body in the natural world, but 
the mind when thinking of Him is to be abstracted from time and 
space, and He will take the Form of the Divine Man when He 
is discerned as the Inmost Life of the Spiritual Principles of the 
Word. His Human Body cannot be thought of as either great or 
small, or of any defined stature or features, because this would 
limit the idea of Him to a fixed position or wandering through 
the space and time of the physical universe, neither could a con- 
ception of His Omnipresence enter the mind, and instead of 
thinking of the spiritual principles from Him which constitute 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



£47 



The Life within the Word. Bearing our sins. 



finite men, the thoughts would be dissipated and wander away 
from the Word, and what is called " Nature" would be substituted 
for the Living God who forms the Inmost Life of the Word. This 
Living God is The Man in the Human Form, by and from whom 
all men are created, and sustained in existence. (§ 146.) 

560. The Literal Sense of the Word received by the natural 
mind of the regenerating man is the Material Human Body of the 
Lord. When these Literal Truths are obeyed from Affection, the 
Rational Faculty is opened to perceive the Interior Truths of the 
Word, which, when loved and obeyed, are made Divine, and thus 
the Humanity of the Lord is glorified ; and when the Rational 
Faculty perceives the Divine Life of the Word to be from its 
Internal Sense, the Lord rises with His Whole Body, and the 
Literal Sense of the Word is revered and esteemed Holy, because 
it is the external manifestation of the Lord's Material Body to 
the material principle of the External mind, or Natural Thought, 
and this Body has never appeared to any man excepting in the 
Literal Sense of the Word. The word " material " here refers to 
material or natural ideas of thought, and not to physical sub- 
stances, for the Ultimate Human Principle does not consist of 
physical flesh and bones, but is the most exterior plane of thought 
concerning the Literal Sense of the Word, and this is the Human 
Substance which exists from the Inmost Principles of the Word, 
and which in the order of regeneration is made Divine Substantial 
Truth in the man who is being regenerated. 

561. Nothing which is Good and True in itself, or which is of 
the Lord, can ever die. The Body of the Lord which is slain upon 
the cross, is the Appearance of Truth in the Literal Sense of the 
Word, which " bore our sins in His oivn Body on the tree, that 
we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness!' " This is 
my Body which is broken for many." The Crucifixion represents 
the violence done to the Actual Truth of the Literal Sense by 
those false doctrines which disparage the effort to obey the simple 
Precepts of the Word. These fallacious teachings are confirmed 
from the Appearances of Truth, which tend to favor the Love of 



248 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Material Body. The Spiritual Body. 



Self, and which lead to the crucifixion of the Life of the Word in 
their adherents, thus obscuring all spiritual perceptions, culmin- 
ating in the death of every receptacle of regenerating principles 
from the Word, so that to such persons, External worship becomes 
a dead form, with no Living Jesus within. 



562. The Material Body of the Lord is the Actual Truth of 
the Literal Sense of the Word which holds the Internal Sense, 
and which is " sown a Natural Body," and " is raised a Spiritual 
Body." " But he spake of the temple of His Body. When there- 
fore He was risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that 
He had said this unto them ; and they believed the Scripture!' 
" Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time 
without sin unto salvation" The Spiritual Body of the Lord 
consists of all regenerating men who have received Him by means 
of the Living Truths of the Word, and have been, and are being- 
re-created in His Form. " ]S r oiv ye are the Body of Christ and 
members in particular." Thus the Lord glorifies, or makes the 
Human Principle of the Word Divine in the regeneration of the 
man to whom the Internal Sense of the Word is revealed. " / 
will praise Thee, 0 Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will 
glorify Thy Name forever more" 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 249 
Cities and villages. Cana of Galilee. 



A MIRACLE OF THE THIRD DAY. 

And the Third Day there was a marriage in Cana of 
Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. John 2:1. 

563. This Spiritual Marriage occurs in the External 
mind of the regenerating man after a full state of pre- 
paration signified by the " Third Day." In illustrating 
the State represented by the Second Day, it was shown 
that " Galilee" signifies the man who has externally lived 
in Love to the Neighbor, without being aware that there 
is an Internal Principle either within the Word or the 
mind which is receptive of the Internal Sense. It was 
also illustrated that a " City" signifies the doctrine of 
Truth from the Word. "Cana" is a village of Galilee. 

564. Where "Cities" and "Villages" are mentioned 
together in the Word, " Cities" signify the Internal prin- 
ciples of the mind, and " Villages," which are outside of 
cities, denote the External principles. "Cities" and 
"Villages" denote these principles, because on the 
physical earth, men who have minds containing Internal 
and External principles, live in, and constitute cities and 
villages. 

565. "Cana of Galilee" here signifies the exterior 
principles of the Natural mind ; for the Love of the 
Neighbor must literally exist in the Natural Affections 
and be manifested in the external life, before either the 
Internal principles of the mind, or the Word, can be 



250 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Gentile nations. The blessedness of marriage. 

revealed, and this state of life has always been found 
among the Gentile nations of the world who have not 
had our written Word, and especially with those who 
have obeyed the Truth which has been given them in 
any form. 

566. It has also been shown that the Proprium, or 
the hereditary evil self-hood of man, exists only in the 
External mind, and that this evil is to be overcome in 
temptation by resistance on the part of the regenerating 
man, without his freedom being violated, and it has been 
illustrated that the Work of Regeneration consists in 
putting off the evil of the hereditary Proprium, so that 
the Heavenly principles of the Internal mind shall govern 
the External. This union of the Internal and External 
mind, by the reception of the Internal and External 
Truths of the Word, is called a " Marriage," and all 
Marriages which are alluded to in the Word, signify the 
union of Good and Truth, or of the Love and Wisdom 
of the Word in the Will and Understanding of regener- 
ating men. 

567. In this Heavenly Marriage which takes place in 
V Cana of Galilee," the Bride is the vivified Proprium of 
the External mind of the regenerating man, and the 
Bridegroom is the Lord, who inseminates principles of 
innocence, peace, and love, from the Word, as rapidly 
as evils and falses are resisted and overcome. Hence 
results that blessedness which is typified by earthly 
marriages, and which derive their happiness from these 
Spiritual Principles of the Word, although mankind are 
not aware of this fact. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



251 



The mother of Jesus. The disciples, 

568. " And the mother of Jesus was there." It has 
been shown that the "Mother" is the Affection for the 
Truths of the Literal Sense of the Word, which has. 
governed the life of the regenerating man previous to 
the Third Day, and from this Affection, the perception 
of the Divine Love and Wisdom of the Word illuminates 
the Rational Faculty, and is born as from a mother 
" there," or in that State of the perception. 

And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the 
marriage. John 2 : 2. 

569. " Jesus" signifies the Divine Good, and " Christ " 
the Divine Truth of the Word, and the words Jesus 
Christ, signify the Divine Marriage of Good and Truth 
in the Will and Understanding of the regenerating man, 
making the natural mind Spiritual, or Divine, or God- 
man in him who is regenerated by the Living Principles 
of the Word. The reception of these Living Principles 
of the Word into the mind and life brings salvation from 
sin, and thus the Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour. 

570. The " Disciples " are all the Goods and Truths of 
the Word which have entered the memory, and thence 
have been incorporated into the life of the regenerating 
man. The first thought which arises in the mind when 
the word " Disciples" is mentioned, is concerning men 
who follow the Lord, but when the mind is abstracted 
from persons and places, it perceives the spiritual prin- 
ciples which govern the life of a disciple, and the Internal 
meaning appears, so that it may be seen whv the Word 



252 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Original signification of names. Wine. 

treats of spiritual principles, both good and evil, by 
means of the representations of persons, places and 
things. 

571. By a reference to the Table of the Proper Names in a com- 
plete Concordance, the signification of the names of persons and 
places mentioned in the Word will be found as they appear in 
their original languages, which when interpreted by the science 
of correspondence, clearly reveal the spiritual principles repre- 
sented by these names recorded in the Literal Sense, and which 
will greatly confirm the reader in the Internal evidence of the 
Divine Revelation of the Word. 

572. By " Called" to the Marriage, is signified the 
desire of the regenerating man for the conjunction of 
the Divine Good, or Jesus, with the " Disciples," in order 
that he may increase in spiritual wisdom, and thence 
fulfil the object of his creation, which is spiritual useful- 
ness to his fellow-men. 

And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith 
unto him, They have no wine. John 2 : 3. 

573. By " Wine," is signified the Interior Divine Truth 
of the Word which is now desired, or "wanted," by the 
regenerating man, and which is also expressed by " call- 
ing " Jesus and the Disciples to the Marriage. This is 
the " Wine " which is represented by the Holy Supper, 
which when received through the Kational Faculty, 
stimulates the Interior Affections, and opens the under- 
standing to perceive Infinite intelligence within the Word. 

574. At the State of regeneration which is represented 
by these expressions, the "Mother of Jesus" or the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 253 
They have no wine. Desires for clearer revelation. 

Affection for the Literal Truth which has been lived 
thus far, " saith unto him," or perceives that there must 
be an Interior meaning within the Literal expressions 
of the Word, and desires a clearer understanding of its 
Truths, on account of the many connections which arise 
in the Eational Faculty concerning the Literal Sense, 
which, in itself alone, if no deeper meaning is perceived, 
has no spiritual life, which is signified by " They have 
no wine." 

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with 
thee? mine hour is not yet come. John 2: 4. 

575. " Jesus saith" signifies instruction from the Word, 
and "unto her" denotes that this instruction is implanted 
in the External mind from the Affection for the Truth* 
of the Literal Sense, and that at the proper time, or 
state, the Divine Providence will reveal clearer percep- 
tions of the Word. 

576. As Good and Truth are from the Word alone, 
and as the principles of the External mind represented 
by " Woman," originate from the Lord, lest it should 
appear to the regenerating man that the Affection for 
the Truth of the Literal Sense originates in himself, be- 
cause these desires for clearer revelation are manifesting 
themselves, — and there is danger that the hereditary 
Proprium will appropriate these desires to itself, — there- 
fore it is written, "Woman, what have I to do witli 
thee ! " 



254 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Admonition. Divine revelation. 

577. A careful study of the Literal Sense of the Word 
will reveal that in the spiritual narrative of the Gospels, 
the Son of God in no place acknowledges " Mary" to be 
His mother, because in the regeneration of man, the Lord 
Jehovah is both the Father and Mother of spiritual life. 
As in the physical birth of man there must be an instru- 
mental mother, who does not originate the life of the 
child, so in the spiritual birth of man there must be an 
instrumental " Mother," which is the Affection for the 
Literal Sense of the Word. This Affection is also from 
the Lord, for nothing but evil originates with man. 
" What have I to do with thee V is therefore an admon- 
ition for careful self-examination in regard to the true 
Source of spiritual desires or Affections. 

578. "Mine hour is not yet come" signifies that until 
this Source of spiritual life is clearly perceived, the 
regenerating man has not arrived at the state in which 
he will be able to bear the revelation of the Internal 
Sense of the Word, for until his mind is fully prepared 
by a life in which the Lord alone is recognized in the 
Word, the Internal Sense would be profaned if it should 
be prematurely revealed. 

579. Words, or natural expressions in themselves, do 
not constitute the Word of God until the Truths within 
these expressions are obeyed, for Divine Revelation is 
the opening of the Eational Faculty to perceive Divine 
Truth, or the Son of God within the Word, and it be- 
comes a Revelation only to him who from Affection obeys 
the Divine Truth. 



\ 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



255 



The perception of ideas. Servants. 

His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith 
unto you, do it. John 2 : 5. 

580. " Saith," in the Word, expresses the communi- 
cation of thought, which in this world is manifested by 
speech, writing, or gestures. The communication of 
thought signifies the perception of ideas. By means of 
the Affection for the Literal Truths of the Word in the 
External mind, or the " mother," a perception is com- 
municated to the " servants." 

581. A " Servant " denotes what is inferior or beneath 
considered with respect to what is superior. It has been 
frequently illustrated that things which are beneath, 
signify external principles, and that superior things 
represent internal principles. "Servants" therefore 
denote the exterior natural principles of the External 
mind, by which the life of the regenerating man is mani- 
fested in this physical world of natural thought. 

582. When a man is being regenerated, inferior or 
external principles are made subordinate to superior, or 
internal principles. The exterior principles become 
" servants," and the interior principles become " lords" 
or " rulers," and thus the Lord reigns in the " heaven " 
and upon the " earth," and all regenerating men become 
" servants " of the Lord. The Lord speaks to man only 
by the Word, and to the " servants" or natural principles 
of the External mind, which receive the Literal Sense 
of the Word, it is clearly revealed to the perception of 
the regenerating man as a Divine command, " Whatso- 
ever he saith unto von. do it." 



256 THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Receptive vessels. Stone, 



And there were set there six water-pots of stone, after 
the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing 
two or three firkins apiece. John 2 : 6. 

583. "And there were set there," signifies in this state 
of the progress of regeneration. Concerning " Water- 
pots," it has been shown that "water" signifies Truth 
from the Word. All vessels in the Word signify recep- 
tacles of spiritual principles. " Water " signifies Natural 
Truth, or the Literal Sense of the Word, and "water- 
pots" signify the scientific principles of the External 
mind which receive this Truth. 

584. These Scientific principles are the ideas formed 
from impressions received from terrestrial and physical 
things by means of the senses, so that when Spiritual 
Truths are treated of in the Word, they first take a 
natural form in the mind, from which the Rational 
Faculty gathers the spiritual meaning when the Laws of 
Correspondence are understood. Without the natural 
ideas first appearing as they are given in the Literal 
Sense of the W ord, the External mind could have no 
tangible objects by which the Truth could be reflected 
into the Rational Faculty, 

585. The "Water-pots" are of "Stone," and a "Stone" 
also signifies Truth. In the highest sense it signifies the 
Lord, who is called a " Rock " when the Divine Truth of 
the Word is represented. It also denotes the lowest 
form of Truth, which is called Natural Truth, or the 
fundamental Literal Sense of the Word, and thus the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



257 



Natural ideas. Cleansing from evil. 

Ten Commandments are represented as being written 
upon " Tables of Stone," which signify the external plane 
of the Word, upon which the Literal Seuse is inscribed. 
The " water-pots " being of " stone," signifies the quality 
of the scientific principles of the External mind, that 
they are formed from Natural Truths, or the Appearances 
of Truth in the Literal Sense with which the External 
mind is first instructed. 

586. There are " Six water-pots " set there. "Six" 
denotes the states of labor and combat which the External 
mind undergoes in the preparation for the reception of 
the Internal Sense of the Word, by which the Appear- 
ances of Truth are to be dissipated, for all progression 
in the regenerate life is attained through struggling with 
the Appearances of Truth until the hereditary Proprium 
is subdued and overcome, therefore " Six " denotes the 
full state which precedes the conjunction of the External 
Truths with the Internal. As the Word of God is in 
the Human Form, all the spiritual principles which are 
contained therein have their corresponding receptacles 
within the minds of regenerating men. 

587. " After the manner of the purifying of the Jews," 
signifies that the cleansing of evil must begin in the 
regenerating man by means of such Truths as he can 
apprehend sensually, or by means of the mental senses, 
and that it is according to the laws of spiritual order 
that purification, or resisting evil, must be done in the 
natural mind and in the natural world, because the 

Internal or spiritual mind thinks and wills in and 

Q 



258 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Jews of the Word. Firkins. 

through the natural principle of the External mind, 
while man lives in the corporeal frame in this physical 
world. 

588. The word "Jew" is derived from the word 
" Judah," and in the highest or Inmost Sense denotes 
the Lord in His Divine Love, and in the Internal Sense 
it denotes the Word, therefore the Lord is born as a 
" Jew," in the Rational Faculty of the regenerating man, 
when the Internal Sense is revealed. In the narratives 
of spiritual history, the " Jews " are representative of the 
principles of the External mind, or Literal Sense of the 
Word, as indicated by the rites and ceremonies of 
external worship. 

589. When these External principles, or " Jews," have 
no life from Internal principles, the Love of Self is not 
subdued, although the external forms of religious wor- 
ship may be rigidly adhered to, and continually observed. 
Therefore the Internal Sense cannot appear to such 
men, for their ideas of the Word are merely natural. 
The " purifying of the Jews " therefore represents the 
carrying into the natural principles of the mind, the 
Truths indicated by the Works of the Law in the Internal 
Sense of the Word, the way for which is prepared by the 
effort to obey the Commandments of the Word. 

590. Containing two or three firkins apiece," refers 
to the capacity or measure of the "water-pots," and 
therefore signifies the degree of spiritual conjunction, or 
Truth made Good by obedience, which these receptacles 
of the mind contain. In the spiritual interpretation of 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



259 



Two or Three. Filling the water-pots, 

the Word, the containing receptacle signifies the same 
principle as the contents which it holds. For example, 
the world contains men who possess minds containing 
spiritual principles, wherefore " world " signifies the 
mind of man, and this is the " world >; where the Literal 
Sense of the Word has its culminating history. 

591. "Firkins" are also receptacles, and represent 
minor Truths as compared with "water-pots," which 
form the complex. Where " Two or Three" are men- 
tioned together in the Word, "Two" is predicated of 
Good, and " Three" is predicated of Truth, and the two 
words signify the conjunction of both principles. In 
this verse they denote that all the Truths of the Literal 
Sense of the Word must be received into the External 
mind and be made Good by the active life of obedience, 
so that the literal law of Love to the Neighbor shall be 
fulfilled in the details of daily life before its spiritual 
mean'ng can be perceived. 

Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. 
And they filled them up to the brim. John 2 : 7. 

592. "Jesus," or the Divine Love which is within the 
Word, now communicates to the " Servants " the im- 
portance of filling the "water-pots with water." The 
"water-pots" are the scientific or intellectual principles 
of the External mind, which are to increase in wisdom 
from the "water," or Literal Sense of the Word, which 
contains Truth adapted to the natural degree of the 
mind. The Understanding of the regenerating man is 



260 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Educational privileges. The active life of obedience. 

to be filled or gifted with every knowledge and variety 
of scientific instruction which can be comprehended and 
received into the memory, which, when applied to the 
true meaning of the Word as the Internal Sense is re- 
vealed, will aid in opening the inexhaustible mine of 
spiritual wealth which there lays concealed beneath the 
surface of the Literal Sense. 

593. The more advantage which the regenerating man can 
secure in every privilege to receive instruction in all branches 
of science and art, the greater capacity will he possess for useful- 
ness in aiding others to understand the Word, for all knowledge 
of physical science is from the Lord, although it appears as if it 
originated with men of rare mental ability. 

594. The Internal Sense of the Word is not revealed to the- 
mind of the regenerating man without earnest effort on his part. 
The External mind must first be filled with the contents and co- 
herence of the Literal historical narratives of the Word through- 
out. It must be read and re-read until its expressions are fixed 
in the mind in their order, so that false doctrines and per- 
versions will not act as obstacles to the understanding of the 
Internal Sense, from isolated interpretations being used to confirm; 
fallacies. The Science of Correspondence should be learned by- 
means of the Word which is written according to those spiritual 
laws. The Word of God must be studied with all the powers of 
the mind, in order to see the Lord within. " And ye shall seek 
me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your 
heart" 

595. "And they filled them up to the brim." In the 
study of the Literal Sense of the Word from the Affec- 
tion of Truth, the scientific principles of the External 
mind are filled, beginning with the natural expressions 
and the Appearances of Truth in which the Word is. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 261 



Filling up to the brim. An important decision. 

first presented, comparing one portion with another, and 
obeying the simple Truths of Life as the mind receives 
them, until the Rational Faculty begins to act, and dis- 
covers the antagonisms and connections which now be- 
gin to appear, and which exist from the Literal Sense 
alone, before its Spiritual Sense is seen. 

596. In this state the External mind is filled " up to 
the brim" with the Literal Sense, because it has got to 
the highest boundary to which it alone can lead, and 
now the understanding begins to look for some rational 
explanation of the apparent inconsistencies which in 
many places begin to be manifested, and which were 
not previously observed. 

597. When this confliction is seen, combat and temp- 
tation begin in the mind of the regenerating man, and 
doubt and despair cloud his perceptions. The Literal 
Sense in itself alone gives no satisfactory answer, for it 
has not life in itself until it is made living, but when it 
is made full "to the brim" in the mind and life, the 
seeker for Divine Truth whose Rational Faculty has 
been awakened, can only call upon the Lord for enlight- 
enment, with the determination to make it the effort of 
his life to know from whence the Divinity of the Word 
proceeds, and in what it consists. 

And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto 
the governor of the feast. And they bare it. John 2 : 5. 

598. In answer to this prayer, the Lord leads the 
regenerating man to perceive that the Word contains an 



262 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



The Governor. Eating and drinking. 

Interior principle, and this perception results from 
instruction concerning its true nature, that it treats of 
spiritual science concerning the history or successive 
states of regeneration, rather than concerning physical 
science and earthly events. This perception is borne, 
or disclosed to the " Governor of the feast." The 
"Governor" is that principle of the Rational Faculty 
which arranges and disposes into order the receptacles 
of the External mind which contain the knowledges of 
the Literal Sense of the Word. 

599. The Eational Faculty has also an External and 
Internal principle. The External principle is formed by 
the Affection of Truth, and is called the " Governor," 
and the Internal principle is formed by the Affection of 
Good, and is called the " Ruler." The " Governor" be- 
ing formed and developed by Affection for the Truths 
of the Literal Sense of the Word which bears them forth 
into life, it discriminates between the Appearances of 
Truth and the essential Truth of the Word. The 
" Feast " signifies eating and drinking from the Word. 
To "Eat" signifies to live according to the Truths of 
the Word, and to "Drink" signifies to imbibe instruc- 
tion or doctrine from the Word which teaches how to 
live. 

600. " And they bare it," signifies that the external 
principles of the mind, or " Servants," are subservient 
to the " Governor" as the Literal Truth is presented for 
its disposal, for it is now disclosed from the study of the 
Word that it has an Interior meaning. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



263 



The Ruler. Obscure perception. 



When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that 
was made wine, and knew not whence it was, (but 
the servants which drew the water knew,) the governor 
of the feast called the bridegroom. John 2 : 9. 

601. The "Ruler of the feast" is the Internal prin- 
ciple of the Rational Faculty which is formed by the 
Affection of Good from a life of obedience to the Truths 
of the Word, and this principle now controls the nourish- 
ment which is derived from the Word. " Had tasted 
the water," signifies the Perception of Truth within the 
Literal Sense. As physical meat and drink correspond 
to spiritual food and nourishment from the Word, so 
" Taste" corresponds to the Perception and the Affection 
for spiritual food and drink. " That was made wine," 
signifies that this Literal Truth of the Word has a Living 
Principle within it, for "Wine" signifies the Divine 
Truth of the Word, and that the Natural expressions 
have a spiritual meaning, and to "taste" signifies the 
Perception of the "Kuler" that the "water was made 
wine." 

602. "And knew not whence it was," signifies that 
although the Perception has been developed that there 
is a spiritual meaning to the Word, its origin is not yet 
clearly perceived, whether it is merely illustrative of the 
Spiritual Truth of the Word, or is Divine Revelation 
from the Lord alone. 

603. " But the servants which drew the water knew," 
signifies further progression in the development of this 



264 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Drawing water. The Bridegroom. 

Perception by " drawing" the "water" by the study of 
the Word, without which no Spiritual Truth can enter 
the mind, from which instruction a clearer knowledge of 
the Literal Sense of the Word serves as the foundation 
for a more Interior perception of its Internal Sense, for 
all knowledge of the Word in the spiritual discernment 
of its Divine Truth can only be imparted by a diligent 
study of its Literal contents. 

604. "The governor of the feast called the bride- 
groom." The "Bridegroom" is the Lord, or the Inmost 
Life of the Word, who now enters the External prin- 
ciple of the Kational Faculty through its Internal 
principle, which from the Affection of Good enlightens 
the Perception of the Affection of Truth. The " Bride" 
is the Affection of Truth in the External mind which 
has received instruction from the Literal Sense of the 
Word, and the Affection of Good is to be united to the 
Affection of Truth, as husband and wife. This union 
constitutes the Heavenly Marriage from which is born 
the Perception of the Rational Faculty which discerns 
the Internal Sense of the Word to be from the Lord 
alone, and that the words which disclpse these Interior 
Truths to the mind which is prepared to receive it, are 
not the invention of the self-intelligence of a man, but 
are from Divine Origin, revealing what always has been 
within, is now, and ever will be in that Word which is 
"IMMANUEL, God with us." 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 265 



Communication of thought. Good wine. 



And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth 
set forth good wine ; and when men have well drunk, 
then that which is worse : but thou hast kept the good 
wine until now, John 2 : 10. 

605. " Saith unto him," denotes a continuance of Per- 
ception, because by " saying " is meant Communication 
of Thought, and Thought is an influx of Perception. 
" Every man at the beginning," signifies the state of man 
in the preparation for a regenerate life, indicated by the 
" beginning," which is the State of Reformation, when 
the " earth was without form and void," when all the 
knowledges in the External memory appear to originate 
from himself. In this state, the regenerating man is 
filled with self-intelligence concerning his knowledges 
and own opinions in the interpretation of the Literal 
Sense of the Word, and if he possesses and has read the 
words revealing the principles of the Internal Sense, he 
feels exalted above others on account of his imaginary 
spiritual intelligence, which is but an Appearance of 
" good wine," which emanates from his Proprium, for 
when the Lord is perceived within the Internal Sense 
of the Word, the regenerating man humbly acknowledges 
that he is but a receptacle of life, and that in himself 
alone he is dead, therefore he neither exalts himself, nor 
condemns others who as yet do not see Spiritual Truths 
in the light of his experience. 

606. When men from natural principles of thought 
imbibe the Interior Truths of the Word, without these 
Internal principles governing their lives, although they 



266 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Orderly thought. Spiritual intemperance. 

may delight in searching into Interior doctrines, and 
learn even the science of correspondences of natural 
things with spiritual principles, their minds become 
filled with reasonings to confirm theories which agree 
with their natural ideas, and thus their thoughts become 
material and are inverted from the principles of Divine 
Order, for all true spiritual development proceeds from 
Interior motives of love and obedience. 

607. "And when men have well drunk, then that 
which is worse," signifies the spiritual drunkenness which 
results from the self-intelligence of the Proprium. " But 
they also have erred through wine ; and through strong 
drink are out of the ivay , the priest and the people have 
erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of 
wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they 
err in vision, they stumble in judgment"* 

608. When men investigate spiritual principles with- 
out their lives being guided by obedience to the Truths 
of the Word, they fall into errors of judgment, because 
they are led by sensual and philosophical knowledge 
only. When the thoughts are formed from reasonings 
concerning terrestrial and earthly objects, if the mind 
rests in these alone, erroneous opinions will obscure the 
perceptions, and although such persons "have well 
drunk " from the fountain of the Word, both in its 
Literal Sense and Interior interpretations, and think 
themselves more awake in mental attainments than 
others, they are in a profound spiritual sleep, for self- 



* is. 28 : 7. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



267 



Keeping the good wine. The consummation of the marriage feast 

intelligence is only imaginary wakefulness. " Woe unto 
them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their 
own sight I Woe unto them that are mighty to drink 
wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink." # 

609. " But thou has kept the good wine until now." 
It is in this Third State of Eegeneration that the Eational 
Faculty perceives the Internal Sense of the Word, from 
the regenerating man having drunk of the " water" from 
the well of the Literal Sense, until the Lord has revealed 
the Living Water, or " good wine," when from the Affec- 
tion of Good the " Bridegroom" enters the Affection of 
Truth. 

610. This is the consummation of the Marriage Feast 
of the Third Day, and the Eational Faculty is now 
awakened into life, and the Light from the Internal 
Sense of the Word illuminates the Internal principle 
of the Eational Faculty to perceive that the Lord J esus 
Christ is the Inmost Life of the Word, and that He has 
come in " power and great glory " to the perceptions of 
the regenerating man, to whom He says, " From hence- 
forth ye know Him, and ham seen Him." 

This beginning of miracles did Je3us in Oana of Galilee 
and manifested forth His Glory ; and His disciples be- 
lieved on Him. John 2 : 11. 

611. The limits of this work preclude the further i] lustration 
of the Third State of Regeneration, and the thoughtful reader 
will observe the coherence of one part of the Word with another 
when interpreted by the Spiritual Principles which have always 



* Ps. 5 : 21. 



268 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Orderly spiritual facts. Spiritual miracles. 

existed within the Literal Sense, and from which the order of 
true Spiritual History may be seen. Thus the true meaning of 
the narration of Miracles may be perceived as orderly spiritual 
facts in the regeneration of men, but disorderly when accepted 
literally as physical signs, for no physical water was ever miracu- 
lously or supernaturally converted into physical wine. 

612. All the incidents and miracles which are narrated in the 
<jorrespondential language of the Literal Sense of the Word, are 
representative of different states of regenarating men, or of the 
evil and false principles of the unregenerated Proprium. It will 
be simply noted that the Resurrection described in the Gospels, 
takes place on the Third Day according to prophecy, and this 
Resurrection is the awakening of the Rational Faculty in its 
Internal principle to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the Word, 
who is the " Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is 

TO COME." 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



269 



Lights in the firmament. The essence of faith, 



THE FOURTH DAY OF CREATION ; 

OK, 

THE FOURTH STATE OF REGENERATION. 

And God said, Let there be Lights in the firmament of 
the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let 
them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and 
years. Gen. 1 : 14. 

613. Before the " Beginning" of Regeneration, man 
is in a state of spiritual death, and his life is re-created 
by the Lord by means of the Good and True principles 
of the Word. The first dawn of Spiritual Light begins 
by living according to the Truths of the Literal Sense 
which have been planted in the External memory, and 
this is Scientific Faith, or Truth ; next by Faith in the 
Understanding, which is Intellectual Faith ; and lastly, 
by Faith in the Will or heart, which is the Faith of Love, 
or Saving Faith. By Faith, in the Word, is meant Love 
to the Lord and the Neighbor, or a life according to 
those Two Principles which make One in the regenerat- 
ing man, and is the perception or thought of the Rational 
Faculty concerning the quality of love, or charity, from 
an Internal Affection for Good and Truth. 

614. The very essence of Faith is the Divine Proceed- 
ing of the Lord which constitutes the Word, and is a 
belief in the Son of God who is the Word " made flesh," 
or the Interior Spiritual Principle of the Word brought 



270 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The internal and external Rational Faculty. Love and Faith. 

forth into the Life of the regenerating man. Good and 
Truth, or Love and Faith from the Lord, are the "Two 
Great Lights" which rule by "day" and "night." These 
"Lights" are placed in the "firmament of the heaven," 
or the Eat ional Faculty. The Internal principle of the 
Rational Faculty is a receptacle of Good, and the Ex- 
ternal principle is a receptacle of Truth from the Word. 

615. The perception of the Divine Human Principle 
of the Word occurs in the Internal principle of the 
Rational Faculty which is actuated by the Affection of 
Good, and which is kindled or infused by the Celestial 
principles of the Word in the Internal mind, for it will 
be remembered that the Rational Faculty is intermediate 
between the Internal and External mind, and in the First 
Day of Creation is called the "Firmament." 

616. The External principle of the Rational Faculty 
is actuated by the Affection of Truth, and manifests it- 
self in the External mind, and thence in the speech and 
actions. By " Lights in the firmament of the heaven" is 
signified that the Rational Faculty is now to be actuated 
by perception from the Internal mind, which is called 
"Heaven" in the ''Beginning. 5 ' 

617. Previous to this State, the Rational Faculty has 
not been clearly separated into the Internal and External 
principles alluded to in the " Marriage in Cana of Galilee" 
(599) and which are now represented by "Day" and 
" Night," which when taken together signify Love and 
Faith, because here referring to the "Lights" ; for Love 
is represented by the sun, which rules by day, and as 
Faith, or Truth, is from Love, as the moon shines by the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



271 



Signs and seasons. Changes of state. 

reflected light of the sun, so "night," over which the 
light of the moon governs, here signifies Faith. " Day'" 
also signifies the Internal Sense of the Word, and " Night" 
the obscurity of the Literal Sense, when used in other 
places according to the subject which is being illustrated. 

618. By " Signs," in the Word, are signified confirm- 
ations of the Divine Truth as revealed in the Internal 
Sense, and that true spiritual knowledge is thus illus- 
trated and communicated to the mind. By " Seasons," 
are signified the States of the regenerating man as re- 
presented by Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. 

619. Spring signifies the First State of the regenerat- 
ing man, when spiritual life begins to grow from the 
"earth" of the Word, in the "earth" of the External 
mind. Summer signifies a Full State, when the heat 
and light of the Spiritual Sun, the Word, are vivifying 
all the principles of the External mind. Autumn, or 
Harvest-time, signifies the fruition of the Truths of the 
Word advanced to perfection by Good, or by a life of 
obedience to them, and it also denotes the decline of 
love. Winter signifies a state of no love and is the 
state of coldness which precedes regeneration, which 
begins in a State of Winter, when there is neither love 
nor charity. 

620. The regenerating man undergoes Changes of 
State, in which he is in greater or less degrees of love, 
because in himself he is nothing but evil, for the Lord 
alone is Good, and during the work of regeneration, he 
is subject to temptation from the evils of his remaining 
unregenerated Proprium. These alternations expressed 



272 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Summer and winter. Confirmation of progress. 

by " Signs" and " Seasons," are needful, in order that he 
may be more and more perfected, and brought into con- 
junction with the Lord. 

621. These changes are to be compared to those in 
the temperate zones, for without Changes of State which 
correspond to Summer and Winter, as to the Will, and 
of "Day" and "Night" as to the Understanding, he 
could not increase in love and wisdom, and thus be per- 
fected. " Days and years " signify all the progressive 
states of regeneration in general, the qualities of which 
will be perceived by the Rational Faculty in their order, 
and by "years" in the Word is not meant periods of 
earthly time, but full periods of States, and by the 
Number of years, the quality is indicated by the spiri- 
tual correspondence of numbers. 

And let them be for Lights in the Firmament of the 
heaven to give light upon the earth : and it was so. 

Gen. 1:15. 

622. By " Lights in the firmament of heaven," is signi- 
fied the illumination of the Internal principle of the 
Eational Faculty, from the Lord within the Internal 
mind, "to give light upon the earth," or the External 
mind. "And it was so," signifies confirmation within 
the mind that this progress is according to Divine Order. 
It has been illustrated that the "Firmament" is the 
Rational Faculty which is intermediate between the 
Internal and External mind, through which conjunction 
is effected, so that the External mind, or " earth," is 
caused to act from spiritual principles instead of from 
selfish and worldly motives. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



273 



The Intermediate state. One point of offence. 



INTERIOR MOTIVES. 

623. By correspondence, the " Firmament " signifies the Inter- 
mediate State into which every person enters at the death of 
material thought. The order of regeneration takes place similar 
to the order of physical life in conception, birth, infancy, child- 
hood and manhood, to which its progressive states correspond. 
Those who attain the years of maturity, form their own ruling 
loves by their course of life, good or evil, as in freedom they have 
obeyed whatever form of Truth which has been presented to 
them, and which they have recognized as Truth according to the 
capacity of their minds, whether in possession of the written 
Word or not. When a man's ruling love has been formed, his 
motives are governed by it, and he inwardly desires to do what- 
ever gives him the greatest delight. 

624. Those in whose lives the work of regeneration has begun, 
love to obey the Precepts of the Word, and love the spiritual 
welfare of their fellow-beings as they progress in the victory over 
the Love of Self. Those who are actuated by the Love of Self 
have no regard for the Interior principles of the Commandments, 
and though they may externally " keep the whole law, and yet 
offend in one point/' they are " guilty of all." This " one point " 
is the Love of Self, which being worshipped instead of the Lord, 
constitutes Idolatry, and in this "one point" all the Command- 
ments are Interiorly broken. 



625. By the Commandment, Thou shalt have no other Gods 
before me, in the Natural Sense is meant that no created thing, 
man or image, is to be worshipped. The Spiritual Sense is 
that no other God than the Lord Jesus Christ is to be worshipped, 
because He is the only Redeemer from sin. The Celestial Sense 
is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One Only Omnipotent, Omni- 
scient, and Omnipresent Jehovah, who Was, Is, and Is to Come, 
. , r .... , • . 



274 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Profanity. Holiness of the Sabbath, 



the Almighty, the Inmost Life of the Word, and they who ar6 in 
the Love of Self do not keep this Commandment because they 
worship another God. 

626. By the Commandment, Thou shalt not take the name of 
the Lord thy God in vain ( in the Natural Sense is meant that 
the Name cf the Lord shall not be profanely used in speech or 
triflingly employed in oaths or perjury. The Spiritual Sense 
teaches that the Word is His Name, and that all True Doctrine 
derived from it shall be reverenced and obeyed, and that the 
Name of this Word is the Lord Jesus Christ ; by the name of 
Jesus is meant all those principles of salvation from the Word by 
which man is redeemed from his sins, and by the name of Christ 
is meant all principles of the doctrine of Divine Truth from the 
Word. In the Celestial Sense is meant that there shall be no 
blasphemy against the Holiness of the Word, which in its Internal 
Sense is the Divine Humanity of the Lord, which is His Name 
in the highest sense, and this is the Name which is to be glorified 
in the regenerating man, and thus by His Name is signified all 
the Divine Attributes of the Lord which are revealed in the 
Internal Sense of the Word. They who are in the Love of Self, 
if they read the Word, and do ngt obey its Precepts "take His 
Name in vain." 

627. By the Commandment, Remember the Sabbath Day to 
keep it holy, in the Natural Sense is indicated Rest at the end 
of six days of worldly labor, and that the Sabbath is to be a day 
of religious instruction and meditation, as also a day in which 
Love to the Neighbor shall be specially manifested. In the 
Spiritual Sense it signifies the Reformation and Regeneration 
of man by the Lord ; by the Six Days of Labor is signified the 
combats against the evils and falses of the Proprium, and by the 
Seventh Day is signified his conjunction with the Lord, and thus 
his Regeneration. In the Celestial Sense it signifies that state 
of Heavenly Peace which results from conjunction with the Lord, 
which evil and falsity can never again invade. They who are in 
the Love of Self do not keep the Sabbath holy, for this holiness 
is only attained by a life of Regeneration. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



275 



Honoring father and mother. Murder and adultery. 



628. By the Commandment, Honor thy father and thy mother, 
in the Natural Sense is indicated that the natural father and 
mother are to be obeyed, loved and honored, and also all who are 
in authority for the government of the world. The Spiritual 
Sense signifies the Internal Sense of the Word and the Doctrine 
of Truth therefrom by which man is regenerated, the Internal 
Sense being the Father and the Spiritual Instruction thence de- 
rived being the Mother, for as an earthly mother feeds her 
children with natural food, so spiritual instruction from the Word 
provides spiritual food. In the Celestial Sense it signifies the 
Lord J esus Christ as the Father and the Affection of Truth in all 
regenerating and angelic men, or the Communion of Saints, as the 
Mother. They who are actuated by the Love of Self do not honor 
the father and mother, for the Internal Sense of the Word cannot 
be revealed to them until the work of regeneration has begun. 

629. By the Commandment, Thou shalt not kill, in the Natural 
Sense is meant literally to inflict no injury upon another person 
either in his body or reputation, from enmity, hatred, or revenge, 
either in act or intention. In the Spiritual Sense is signified 
any means by which the Divine Truth of the Word is obstructed 
from regenerating the lives of other men, by perverse example, 
blasphemous words, or false teaching. In the Celestial Sense 
is signified hatred toward the Interior principles of the Word, 
and thus toward the Lord, and all the Divine Truths proceeding 
from Him. They who are in the Love of Self care only for them- 
selves, and would not regret even the death of others, provided 
they would derive benefit themselves thereby. 

630. By the Commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery , 
in the Natural Sense is meant not only that there shall be no 
adultery in act, but that no thought of lasciviousness or lust shall 
be cherished, or obscene conversation uttered, for whatever is in 
the will of man in the intention is the same as if carried into the 
act, which would be done if there were no external restraint. 
Abstinence from the act of sin does not constitute chastity, but 
abstinence from cherishing the thought of sin in the Will, in the 



276 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Stealing. Lying, 

time of temptation, when all external restraints are removed, 
constitutes chastity, and in this overcoming of lust, a man must 
seek the Lord's strength ; but he is an adulterer who lusts in his 
heart or speaks obscenely, although he may never indulge in the 
carnal act. " Whoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath 
committed adultery with her already in his heart." The same 
principle is true in the woman whose mind is filled with carnal 
lust, which originates in the Love of Self in its most degrading 
corporeal principle. " The adulteress will hunt for the precious 
life. Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh under- 
standing : he that doeth it destroy eth his own soul." " The adult- 
erer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death" for this sin 
closes every perception of the Truth of the Word, and the result 
is Spiritual Death. In the Spiritual Sense it signifies to adul- 
terate the Goods of the Word, and to falsify its Truths by means 
of false doctrines which obscure the power of the Living Precepts 
of the Word. In the Celestial Sense, by committing adultery 
is meant to deny the Internal Sense of the Word in which its 
Holiness consists, for when this is denied, the Literal Sense will 
be profaned to sustain any false doctrine which favors the Love 
of Self. 

631. By the Commandment, Thou shalt not steal, in the Natural 
Sense is meant not to defraud, or take advantage of any person 
to the least extent, or be unfaithful in any duty, or to receive 
bribes, or make unjust decisions for the sake of gain. In the 
Spiritual Sense is meant that none should be deprived of the 
Truths of the Word by false doctrines, and that none should teach 
such doctrines as they may see in the Word for worldly honor or 
personal gain. In the Celestial Sense is meant that none should 
take away the Divine Power of the Lord from the Word by its 
Internal Sense, or claim to themselves His merit and righteous- 
ness instead of putting away their evils in humility and acknow- 
ledging the power to be from the Lord by the Word. 

632. By the Commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness 
against thy neighbor, in the Natural Sense is meant that none 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 277 



Covetousness. Violation of all the Precepts, 



shall speak or testify falsely concerning any person or thing, by 
any stratagem or evil purpose to be subservient to any selfish 
interest. In the Spiritual Sense it signifies that there shall be 
no attempt made to persuade others that false doctrine is the 
Truth of the Word, and that the evils of life are thereby over- 
looked and washed away without their being overcome by obedi- 
ence to the Truths of the Word, and it also signifies to do evil 
after one knows what Good and Truth are. In the Celestial 
Sense by "false witness" is signified to blaspheme and reject the 
Internal Sense of the Word after recognizing that the Spiritual 
Principles therein will make a regenerating man "wise unto 
salvation." 

633. In the Commandment, Thou shalt not covet, in the Natural 
Sense is meant that none of the prohibitions mentioned in the 
previous Commandments shall be lusted for, or inwardly cher- 
ished, for a man does not act from internal motives until lusts 
are overcome and removed, which is accomplished in the work of 
preparation for regeneration. In the Spiritual Sense this Com- 
mandment prohibits all desires from the Proprium which are 
contrary to progression in spiritual attainments, or are opposed to 
obedience to the Truths of the Word ; because, unless all coveting 
or lust is subdued, the Will of the Proprium would gain the 
ascendancy and lead the man into spiritual death. 



634. They who are in the Love of Self, would, if unrestrained 
by external influences, violate every Commandment to gratify 
the lust of the Proprium, and if possible lead others into spiritual 
death. Such is the state of the unregenerated principles of the 
External mind, and they must undergo the mental suffering 
incident upon the removal of evil and falsity. Men enter the 
Intermediate State with the same opinions concerning Divine 
Principles which they hold at the time of their departure from 
the natural world of thought, and these opinions, if false, can 
only be removed when they perceive the Truth, and overcome 
the evils of the Proprium. 



278 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The way of destruction. Looking above. 

635. The Lord never casts any one away from Him, or remands 
them to Hell, but seeks to lead every man to the Life of Heaven. 
Those who are in the life of evil, go their own way to that place 
or state which gives them the greatest delight in the gratification 
of their evils, which re-act upon them alone, and in place of de- 
siring that others shall receive blessing, they desire that they may 
be injured, from which the re-action causes torture and suffering, 
and all their evil desires culminate in and re-act upon themselves, 
as anyone may observe, if he will study the operation of his own 
mind, for the proof of Spiritual Truths is to be found within the 
mental experience, and not outside in the external world of nature. 

636. There are Two Ways which lead to the Rational Faculty; 
a Superior, or Internal way, by which Good and Truth enter 
from the Lord by the Internal mind, which is the Kingdom of 
Heaven within the regenerating man, and an Inferior, or External 
way, by which evil and falsity enter from Hell, or the Proprium. 
When the Light is admitted from Heaven, or the Internal mind, 
a man becomes regenerated and also truly Rational. But if he 
does not admit this Light from Heaven, he is not Rational, not- 
withstanding he may appear so to himself. 

637. Thus the Rational Faculty corresponds to an Intermediate 
State. Whatever is above it, corresponds to Heaven, and what- 
ever is below, corresponds to Hell. With the regenerating man, 
the door above is opened to receive the heat and light from 
Heaven, and the door below is closed to the influx of evil and 
falsity from hell ; but with the unregenerated principles, the door 
above is closed, and the door beneath is opened, and they look 
down to Hell. 

638. To look above is to look to the Lord within the Word, 
who is the Center of all Love and Wisdom, but to look down to 
Self and the dead things of material thought is to turn away 
from the Lord, or the Word, to the opposite principle of Spiritual 
Death, " I have set the Loed always before me : because He is at 
w,y right hand I shall not be moved" The " hand " signifies the 
ability, power and confidence which is given to man, because his 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 279 



Turning the thoughts inwardly. The Primary Source. 

work, or usefulness, is performed by his hands, and the " Right 
Hand " signifies the Intellectual Power, or Rational Faculty, 
which is vivified by the Truths of the Word. Thus the Lord is 
at the " right hand " of the regenerating man, and he will not be 
moved, or led downward by evil and falsity, because the Divine 
Truth of the Word is firm to uphold in ways of righteousness. 

639. It is by correspondence, that in prayer the face or eyes 
instinctively turn upward, for to look above is to turn the thoughts 
inwardly, and in whatever direction the Lord is thought of, He is 
always before the mind. It has been illustrated that " Before," 
signifies " Within," because the Source of thought is from the 
Lord, who is " Before all things," and it descends through Interior 
Principles which precede the ultimate effect. Thus when angelic 
men think of the Lord, they think of Him as entering within 
themselves, in the Internal mind. If thought concerning the 
Lord wanders away from this principle and places Him in vague 
material space, the idea of God becomes material, and He will 
then be thought of from natural principles of time and space, and 
confliction between Spiritual and Natural Principles will take 
place in the mind. 

640. Although the Lord fills all things both within and with- 
out by His Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence, He is 
the Inmost Principle of the Life of the Word, and is perceived in 
the Love and Wisdom which proceeds from Him by the Word 
into the Affections and Thoughts of regenerating men. He is the 
Inmost Essential Being of that Spiritual Sun, The Word, which 
sheds its rays of Heat and Light upon the " earth " of regenerat- 
ing men. 

641. The Lord Jehovah exists in Himself as the Primary 
Source of all life, and this erroneous opinion must be carefully 
guarded against : — that having infused Himself into the lives of 
angelic and regenerating men, their lives in the complex consti- 
tute the Lord. This is not true, for they are only recipients of 
His Life which He gives from Himself, and unless this funda- 
mental principle of spiritual intelligence is acknowledged in 



280 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Opening the door above. The two great lights. 

humility, a man might be led even to think himself to be God, 
and would thereby close the door above the Rational Faculty, so 
that the Light could not enter from its Source, the Inmost Essen- 
tial Life from whom the Literal Sense of the Word exists, and 
which is made Living when its Truths are received and obeyed 
by its created receptacle, the regenerating man. 

G42. When the door above is opened, the Heavenly Lights shine 
through the firmament of the Rational Faculty, and thence through 
the lower door, and illuminate the " earth " of the External mind, 
which is beneath, and with the co-operation of the regenerating 
man, drive out the evils and falsities of the hereditary Proprium. 

And God made Two Great Lights ; the greater Light to 
rule the Day, and the lesser Light to rule the Night : 
He made the Stars also. Gen. 1 : 16. 

643. The " Two Great Lights" of the spiritual world 
of the Kational Faculty are the Sun, or Love, which 
rules the Will, and the Moon, or Truth, which governs 
the Understanding; while the "Stars" are the Know- 
ledges of Good and Truth. The rays of the sun warm 
the receptacle of earth which is planted with seed, for 
it is according to the order of creation and of regener- 
ation, that seed shall first be planted, and the Spiritual 
Seed is the Truth of the Word. 

644. As Love is the very Essence of Life, and Truth made 
Living is derived from Love, so the Will, which is the receptacle 
of Love, is the Life of the Understanding, which is the receptacle 
of Truth, and the Understanding of the regenerating man be- 
comes the form or clothing of the Will, and is ruled by it. Both 
of these receptacles of heat and light, or of Love and Wisdom, 
constitute One mind or man, for what a man then wills and does, 
he also thinks and intends. But when the Understanding is at 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 281 



Stars. God setting the lights. 

variance with the Will, as with those who profess that they have 
faith, and yet live in contradiction to the simple Truths of the 
Word, the one mind of such persons is divided into two principles, 
one of which desires to exalt itself into Heaven, while the other 
tends toward Hell, or the Proprium ; and since the Will rules in 
every act, the whole mind and life would plunge into evil, unless 
prevented by the Love and Mercy of the Lord by means of ex- 
ternal restraints. 

645. As "Stars" signify Knowledges of Good and Truth from 
the Word, so the " Star in the East," which went before the " wise 
men," in the historical narrative of the Gospels, " till it came and 
stood over where the young child was," signifies that these know- 
ledges from the Word, which is the Sun in the East, have led the 
regenerating man whose mind has been filled with wisdom from 
obedience, to perceive the Internal Sense of the Word, which re- 
veals the "place" where the "young child" is born, which is in 
the enlightened Rational Faculty of the man before whom the 
" Star " appears. 

And God set them in the Firmament of the Heaven to 
give Light upon the Earth. Gen. 1: 17. 

646. "And God set them," signifies that the percep- 
tion is imparted to the regenerating man, that all Love, 
and consequently all Life, which is from Love alone, is 
derived solely from the Lord. " In the firmament of the 
heaven," signifies the Internal principle of the Eational 
Faculty, which being illuminated from the Internal mind, 
or "Heaven," gives "light upon the earth," and the 
External mind is governed by the Internal Truths of 
the Word. 

647. Thus during this Fourth Day, the regenerating 
man becomes more clearly influenced by the Divine 



• 



282 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Light from the Word. Day and Night- 

Love, and is illuminated by the Divine Truth of the 
Word. In the previous States, his conversation and 
meditation has been upon religious principles, and he 
has produced the fruit of good works ; but he was then 
actuated by his unyielding firmness and obedience to 
the Commandments when laboring under temptation, 
but not from an Internal principle of Love and Faith, 
wherefore these principles are now enkindled within his 
" Firmament," and "give light upon the earth." 

648. This Light is from the Internal Sense of the 
Word which shines through the Rational Faculty and 
illumines both the Literal Sense and its corresponding 
receptacles of the External mind, and shows that the 
origin of the Word is Divine. "Arise, shine : for thy 
Light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon 
thee. Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shall thy 
moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thine ever- 
lasting Light, and the days of thy mourning shall be 
ended." 

And to rule over the Day and over the Night, and to 
divide the Light from the Darkness : and God saw 
that it was good. Gen. 1 : 18. 

649. In this verse, by "Day," is meant Good, and by 
" Night " is signified Evil ; wherefore good actions are 
called Works of the Day, and evil deeds are Works of 
the Night. By the " Light " is meant Truth, and by 
" Darkness " is meant Falsity. " For every one that doeth 
evil hateth the Light.'" " He that doeth Truth cometh to 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 283 



Light and darkness. Walking in the day. 

the Light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they 
are wrought in God" But in the fourteenth verse, 
"Day" signifies the Will, and "Night" denotes the 
Understanding, which are receptacles of the Love and 
Wisdom represented by the Sun and Moon, yet in this 
verse, " Light " and " Darkness " are mentioned which 
here qualifies the " Day " and " Night." 

650. By the reception of the Love and Wisdom of the 
Word in obeying its Truths, the " Light in the Rational 
Faculty discriminates between Truth and Falsity. The 
"Darkness" is the falsity which envelopes the External 
mind which is to be filled with Light as evil and falsity 
are overcome. When the regenerating man is suffering 
in temptation, the evils and falses which then appear in 
the Proprium, seem to obscure the Spiritual Heat and 
Light, but if he resists the evil and looks to the Lord 
within the Word, the clouds will be dispersed, and he 
will perceive the Divine Light shining steadily above 
the clouds. 

651. " If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not ; but if 
any man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light 
in him." To ■' walk in the day," signifies to live according to the 
Truths of the Word, but to " walk in the night," is to be led by 
the evils and falses of the Proprium, which bring upon the 
Rational Faculty that state of night and darkness of which it is 
said, " Shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the 
heavens shall be shaken." This prophetic utterance of the Word 
does not refer to physical events, but to the spiritual state of men 
whose minds have beea become obscured by their own evils and 
falses, from which false doctrines have been confirmed from the 



284 THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Progression. Spiritual Quarters, 



Appearances of Truth in the Literal Sense, and have obscured the 
Light which steadily shines from the simple Precepts of the Word. 
These plain commandments are the " Highway" which lead to the 
Internal Sense. " And an Highway shall be there, and a Way, 
and it shall be called The Way of Holiness ; the unclean shall 
not pass over it ; but it shall be for those : the wayfaring men, 
though fools, shall not err therein." " i" am the Way, the Truth, 
and the Life." " This is the Way, walk ye in it" " Come ye } 
and let us walk in the light of the Lord." 

And the Evening and the Morning were the Fourth 
Day. Gen. 1:19. 

652. Progression into clearer perception of the Divine 
Truth of the Word, by continued obedience from Affec- 
tion, effects conjunction between Good and Truth, which 
union is represented by the number Four, which is the 
double or multiple of Two, and signifies the fulness of 
the Fourth State of Regeneration, and it derives its 
signification from the Four Quarters of the Spiritual 
World, which are represented by the fixed geographical 
quarters of the earth in relation to the physical sun, 
the East, West, North, and South. 

SPIRITUAL QUARTERS. 

653. These Four Quarters denote states of Good and Truth, and 
the extension of Good and Truth is described by them in the 
Word. The " East " denotes the Lord, because He is within the 
Sun of Heaven, whence comes the Heat and Light of Love and 
Wisdom, and in particular it denotes Divine Love in a clear per- 
ception, by means of the Word, which is the Lord in the East. 
The West denotes an obscure state of Love, therefore the " Star " 
is seen "in the East." The South denotes Divine Truth in Light, 
and the North signifies Truth in obscurity. All principles of 
spiritual life are derived from the " East," or the Word of God. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



285 



The Right Hand of God. Africans. 

654. These States are continually varying with the "earth" of 
the regenerating man in relation to the Spiritual Sun, as it 
revolves on its axis and encircles this Sun during each year of 
regeneration. As the physical sun is the centre of the orbit in 
which the earth revolves, and is always in the East in respect to 
the earth as it appears in the order of the revolutions, so the Lord, 
or the Word, is always in the East in relation to the regenerating 
man. When a man faces the East, his right hand is towards the 
South, and the "right hand" of a man signifies Divine Truth 
received into the life, and the " Right Hand of God " signifies the 
Internal Sense of the Word, for it is the Divine Power of the 
Lord in the regeneration of man. 

655. The Four Gospels represent the fulness of conjunction of 
the Internal Sense of the Word with the life of the regenerating 
man. The name "John" signifies "the Mercy of the Lord," and 
as this Mercy is from the Inmost Principle of the Divine Love, 
this Interior Gospel is represented by the East. The word 
"Matthew" signifies "Reward," by which is denoted a means of 
conjunction, which in the regenerating man becomes the Affection 
of Truth, and this being given from the Mercy of the Lord who 
is in the East, this Gospel is represented by the West. The name 
"Luke" signifies "Luminous," which is predicated of Divine 
Truth, and as this Gospel gives light concerning the conception 
and birth of the Son of God, it is represented by the South. The 
name " Mark " signifies " Shining," which is also predicated of 
Divine Truth, but being obscure concerning the Advent, this 
Gospel is represented by the North. 

656. As the world corresponds to the universal mind of man, 
or one mind with its complex principles, so the names of the 
geographical quarters signify spiritual principles abstracted from 
physical locality. The warm country of Africa signifies the 
Affection of Good, the same as the " East," or " John," which is a 
state of Celestial affection, and thus the "Africans" of the Spiritual 
World are those who in affection receive the Goods and Truths of 
the Word into their lives, and whose minds from being black with 



286 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Asia and Europe. 



The West. 



the evils and falses of their Proprium, are being made " white in 
the blood of the Lamb." As the center of Africa is under the 
influence of the heated climate of the torrid zone, so the spiritual 
"Africans" have more interior perception and superior judgment 
concerning the spiritual principles of the Word, and perceive 
clearly how the Lord descends and presents Himself to the 
interior sight of men by the Word, which is the Spiritual Sun 
which sheds greater heat and light at the equator, or within the 
mind which is constantly open to receive the Divine Love and 
Wisdom by means of the clear revelation of the interior prin- 
ciples of the Word. 

657. Asia signifies the clear light of intelligence concerning the 
Word, the same as the " South," or " Luke," and by the inhabi- 
tants of Asia in the spiritual world of regeneration, are signified 
all they who are living in and are illuminated by this clear 
spiritual light, or in Truths derived from Good. Thus Asia signi- 
fies all those principles in the mind of the regenerating man which 
are enlightened by the Internal Sense of the Word by obedience 
to its Truths. Europe signifies a state of Truth in obscurity 
concerning the Internal Sense of the Word, the same as the 
*' North," and the spiritual Europeans denote those in the state of 
regeneration to whom the Internal Sense of the Word is about to 
be revealed, and in the evil sense they denote those false principles 
which obscure the mind in regard to the Word, when the doctrine 
of faith alone predominates over the commandments of Love. 
America signifies the Affection of Truth, the same as the " West," 
or an obscure state of Love, being opposite to the "East" and 
derived therefrom, and the inhabitants, or principles of this 
spiritual quarter will be led from the Affection of Truth to the 
Affection of Good, or to the state signified by Africa, as the re- 
generating man progresses toward Celestial principles. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 2S7 
Eight days. Circumcision, 



THE CONSECRATION OF THE HOLY CHILD. 

And when eight days were accomplished for the circum- 
cising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which 
was so named of the angel before he was conceived 
in the womb. Luke 2 : 21. 

658. " Eight days," signifies a state of full conjunction 
of Good and Truth, the same as by "Two" and by 
" Four," for it is the multiplied product of those num- 
bers. " Eight" also signifies the beginning of a new 
state of purification from evils which is represented by 
"Circumcision/' which signifies purification from filthy 
and corporeal evils by means of the Truths of the Word 
implanted in the life. "Circumcision" is the sign for 
this purification, which can only exist from an Internal 
love for that purity and innocence which is represented 
by the " Child," the quality of which exists from the 
Divine Love, signified by " his name was called Jesus," 
which quality was predicated of regeneration, in the 
Word, concerning the preceding states of Eeformation 
and Repentance which are treated of in the First Day 
of Creation, " which was so named of the angel before 
he was conceived in the womb." 

659 The "Womb" is the Rational Faculty, and 
" Conception" is the first life of this Interior receptacle 
of the mind, which receives its life from the life of the 
Lord in the Internal mind which flows into the life of 



288 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Baptism. 



Purifications. 



the Affection of the knowledges and sciences belonging 
to the External mind. The life of this Affection of 
knowledges and sciences of the Literal Sense of the 
Word, gives the Rational Faculty a covering or body, 
which is the "mother" within which the Rational 
Faculty exists as a receptacle of Seed from the Internal 
Sense of the Word. 

BAPTISM AND CIRCUMCISION. 

660. Baptism, in the Literal Sense, is a sign of entrance into 
regenerating life. The Waters of Baptism denote the Truths of 
the Word applied to the life, and these Truths are signified by the 
waters "above" and " below" the " firmament," or the Interior and 
Literal Truths of the Word. The external application of water to 
the physical body in any form does not constitute the Baptism of 
the Word, although it is used as a memorial that men should be 
purified from their evils ; for adulterers and adulteresses may 
daily wash their bodies with water to the utmost cleanliness, and 
yet their whole minds be filled with the impurity which results 
from the Love of Self, although they may have been devoutly 
baptized in the prescribed external form in which they have been 
educated. But the Baptism which is described in the Literal 
Sense of the Word is representative of the entrance upon the 
work of regeneration, which leads to the internal purification 
from evil and falsity, and this True Baptism must be daily and 
constantly performed by obedience to the Truths of the Literal 
Commandments in the daily external duties of life. 

661. Regeneration differs from purification in this respect, which 
is, that Regeneration precedes, and Purification follows : for no 
one can be inwardly purified from evils and falses, unless he has 
entered upon the work of Regeneration. A man who has not 
entered upon this work may externally withdraw himself from 
evils, but he is not purified from them, for his will is not changed 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 289 



Fulfilment of Baptism. A week. 



and he remains impure, but the regenerating man is being purified 
every day. Thus the difference between the signification of Bap- 
tism and Circumcision may be perceived ; Baptism signifying the 
entrance upon the work of regeneration, and Circumcision signify- 
ing purification from evil and falsity. 

662. The external rite of Baptipm in itself alone, has no more 
effect upon the Internal life, than the external rite of Circumcision 
avails in the Internal purification of evil. The significance of all 
the external rites and ceremonies recorded in the Literal Sense, 
refer to spiritual principles which must be fulfilled in the Internal 
life, of which the external forms narrated in the Letter of the 
Word are simply representative. " Neither is that circumcision 
which is outward in the flesh. Circumcision is that of the heart, 
in the spirit, and not in the letter" * " Circumcision is nothing, 
and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the Command- 
ments of God." *f* " A nd the Lord thy God vjUI circumcise thine 
heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all 
thy soul, that thou may est live." J 

663. A "Week," which is a period of seven days, 
signifies an entire period of every state of Reformation, 
Temptation, and Regeneration, and the "Eighth Day" 
is the beginning of a succeeding state. As " Circum- 
cision" in the representative description of the Word, 
takes place on the " Eighth Day," this purification from 
evil must be constantly progressing, and thus be always 
proceeding as from a new beginning in the removal of 
Self-love and the Love of the World from the Proprium, 
for those lusts, while they rule the External mind and 
the Rational Faculty, so take possession of the thoughts, 
that they not only reject and suffocate the influx of the 
Divine Love, but pervert and defile it. This inflowing 



* Rom. 2 : 29. t Cor. 7 : 19. t Deut. 30 : 6. 



290 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Days of purification. The Law of Moses. 

of Heavenly Love from the Lord is constant with every 
man, but its reception is opposed and turned to its 
opposite principle by the evil and falsity of the Proprium 
of the External mind. 

And when the days of her purification according to the 
law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to 
Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord. Luke 2 : 22, 

664. The purification of evils and falses takes place in 
the External mind, which contains the hereditary human 
principle derived from the mother, and unless this puri- 
fication is accomplished, the work of regeneration cannot 
proceed, for otherwise the Divine Love of the Lord can- 
not enter and assume the place occupied by the heredi- 
tary Proprium. The " Law of Moses " denotes the Word 
of God, and here signifies the Truth of the Literal Com- 
mandments of the Word represented by the " Law," by 
which this purification is accomplished in the External 
mind. The signification of the word "Moses," is " Taken 
out of the water," and "water" signifies the Truth of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, which when obeyed, takes 
the mind out of natural thought concerning the Word, 
and lifts it into a spiritual perception of its Interior 
Truth. Thus instead of a physical man in ancient 
earthly history, the name "Moses" represents the Lord 
as to the Commandments of the Word in the various 
states of the mind of regenerating men. 

665. The Purification from the Love of Self and the 
World is effected by the Two Great Commandments of 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 291 



The Spiritual City. The New Jerusalem. 

the Word, which are signified by the " Law of Moses," 
and which bring the regenerating man to " Jerusalem." 
By "Jerusalem," in the Word, is not meant an earthly 
city, but the Spiritual City, or doctrines formed from 
the Divine Truth of the Word, which are revealed to 
the perceptions of the Rational Faculty, and the mind 
must be abstracted from the appearance of an earthly 
place in this narration, and the spiritual principle thought 
of, otherwise the Rational Faculty will be led into the 
natural world of material thought instead of the Spiritual 
world which is revealed by the Internal Sense of the 
Word. 

666. " Zion," represents the Celestial Principles of the 
Word within the regenerating man which are obeyed 
from the Good of Love, by which is meant life and 
thought which is actuated by Affection. " Jerusalem," 
represents the Spiritual Principles of the Word within 
the regenerating man which exist from the Truth of the 
Good of Love, by which is meant the thought or under- 
standing which has been opened to perceive the Interior 
Truths of the Word from obedience to the External 
Truths of the Commandments, which leads to an Interior 
principle of Affection, which is higher and warmer than 
external and cold principles of duty, or obedience. By 
the "New Jerusalem" is meant the Living Doctrines 
derived from the Interior Divine Truth of the Word 
and received into the life of the regenerating man. which 
are universal in their application. 



292 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Presenting to the Lord. Writing and printing. 

667. " To present him to the Lord," signifies that by 
a life according to the simple Literal Truths, the regen- 
erating man has been led to perceive the Divine Truth 
within the Word, and he is thus "presented," or offered 
to the Lord, which signifies a life of constant worship 
from True Doctrines from the Word, because the Internal 
principle of the Rational Faculty is opened to receive 
the Divine Love and Wisdom. 

As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that 
openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. 

Luke 2 : 23. 

668. "As it is written" signifies the inscription within, 
and the impression on the life of the regenerating man. 
The " Law of the Lord" is the Divine Truth of the Word. 
Truths are impressed on the life when they are received 
into the Will, and thence govern the actions and speech. 
If they are received and remain merely in the Memory, 
they are only thought of intellectually, but as soon as 
they are received in the Will, they then become Living, 
because the very Essence of the Life of man is to Will, 
and thence to act ; and Truths have no power in man 
until they are made Living. The reason why "it is 
written" signifies to impress on*the life, is because the 
Art of Writing, or Printing, has been given to mankind, 
so that Truths and Thoughts may thus be preserved 
and remembered, and thus be handed down to succes- 
sive generations. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



293 



Interior memory, Opening of the Book. 



THE BOOK OF LIFE. 

669. The mind of man possesses Two Books, within which are 
written all his thoughts and actions. These Two Books are his 
Interior and Exterior memories. Those things which are written 
on the pages of his Interior Memory, remain to all Eternity, and 
they will never be blotted out, for they have been from his Will, 
or ruling love, and here is written the True History of his life as 
it has progressed in form from Internal motives. Whatever things 
or principles a man hears and sees, and appropriates into his life, 
whether they are good or evil, or true or false, are insinuated into 
his Interior Memory without his being aware of it, just as he may 
take medicine or poison without being aware how it affects the 
internal organs of the physical frame. 

670. In this Internal Memory not a single impression or inscrip- 
tion which the man has himself written, will ever be lost. The 
Interior Memory is of such a quality that the inward motives of 
the most particular things which man has at any time thought, 
spoken and done, with the most minute circumstances, from his 
earliest years to extreme old age, are there deeply inscribed. 
When a man enters the regenerate life he carries with him the 
memory of all these things, and he is successively brought into 
recollection of all of them. This is the Book of his Life, which 
is opened in the clearest light whenever the Lord permits, in order 
that he may not glory in his self -intelligence, but may see and 
feel that his own Proprium brings nothing but Spiritual Death. 

671. In view of this searching fact concerning the opening of 
the Book of Life, every man who reads the Word should strive to 
attain Holiness of Life by shunning his evils and looking to the 
Lord. To look to the Lord is to obey the Precepts of the Word, 
and thus acknowledge Him. " And I saw the dead, small and 
great, stand before God ; and the Boohs were opened ; and another 
Book was opened, which is the Book of Life ; and the dead were 
judged out of those things which were written in the books, accord- 
ing to their works'* 



294 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Woman. ■ ' The first-born. 

672. "Every male that openeth the womb shall be 
called holy to the Lord." In regard to the spiritual 
principles which constitute the human mind, the Word 
of God is no respecter of persons in the distinction of 
physical sex, for an earthly wo-man is a Womb-man 
who is so created, that in this world there may be a 
mother to succeeding generations for the perpetuity of 
life, in order that angels may be created by regeneration. 
Therefore the Regenerating Man is either male or female 
in regard to earthly sex, and the Love of Self in its de- 
grading influence, has no degrees of difference between 
the sexes, and the necessity for regeneration is impera- 
tive with both. " There is neither male nor female : for 
ye are all one in Christ Jesus." In the Male or Mascu- 
line principle of the mind, Love is the inmost degree, 
and its feminine covering is Wisdom ; whereas in the 
Female principle of the mind the Wisdom of the male is 
inmost, and its covering is the Affection thence derived ; 
so that "Male" signifies the Truth from Good, and 
"Female" is the Affection of that Truth. These two 
principles represented by "Male" and "Female" exist 
in the mind of the one regenerating man, the conjunc- 
tion of which constitutes the Heavenly Marriage, not 
between two individuals, but between the two principles 
of the mind, the Will and the Understanding, for two 
persons cannot become One Person. 

673. The " Womb " is the Rational Faculty, and to 
" Open" is to give power in order that the perception of 
Truth may be born. The " First-born " is Good, which 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



295 



Holiness. Irreverence, 

is formed by means of Truths from the Word made 
Good, or lived according to, and this Good is the power 
which opens the Rational Faculty, for the "Male" which 
is first born is Truth from Good, for Good is first con- 
ceived from the Lord, and is formed by Truths, and 
"shall be called holy to the Lord." By " Holy," or 
" Holiness," is signified Divine Truth and all the prin- 
ciples which proceed therefrom, and the regenerating 
man is Sanctified or made Holy when his life is governed 
by Divine Truth, or the Word, for the True Holiness of 
the Lord in its ultimate degree, exists in the life of the 
man who obeys its Precepts. 

674. The Literal Sense of the Word is Holy, because 
it contains within its expressions Interior Divine Truth, 
and it is therefore the Temple of the Lord. It should 
for this reason always be treated with reverence, both 
in places of public gatherings and in the home, because 
therein is the Lord Himself, buried in the sepulchre of 
the Literal Sense, waiting to arise and re-create the life 
of the man who opens and reads its sacred pages. " The 
Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence 
before Him. (( Holiness becometh Thine House, 0 Lord, 
for ever." 

675. The Literal Sense of the Word should not be 
used in the language of common conversation, or ever be 
made the subject of jesting or punning by ludicrous 
application, and thus abuse made of the receptacles of 
Interior Divine Truth, because such treatment is trifling 
with the Source of Spiritual Life, and leads the mind 



296 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Expiation. Birds. 

away from perceiving its true Holiness. Using the Word 
with irreverence leads to profanity and blasphemy, for it 
is the Name of the Lord, which " Thou shalt not take in 
vain?' By " called holy to the Lord," is signified a per- 
ception that these Divine Truths, which in their Interior 
meaning have entered the enlightened Eational Faculty, 
are from the Lord alone, and that He is the Source of 
their Inspiration, and that they do not originate from 
the finite instruments which He has employed to record 
the Literal and its revealed Internal Sense. 

And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said 
in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves, or two 
young pigeons. Luke 2 : 24. 

676. To " offer a sacrifice" signifies expiation from sin, 
or the removal of evils and falses. By Expiation, or 
Propriation, is meant the deliverance from Spiritual 
Death, by the purification from evils and falses, which is 
accomplished by resisting and overcoming them. The 
" Law of the Lord," signifies the Word. A " Turtle 
dove" is representative of Exterior principles, and a 
"Young pigeon" signifies Interior principles. By "a 
"pair" and "two" is signified the conjunction of these 
two principles, which exist in the Understanding and 
the Will, which when united by obedience to the Pre- 
cepts of the Word constitute the Heavenly Marriage. 
All birds mentioned in the Word signify spiritual prin- 
ciples in the regenerating man which relate to Truth or 
Eaith, and consequently to Intellectual and Eational 
principles. The gentle, beautiful and clean birds repre- 
sent principles of Truth, and those which are ravenous 
and unclean represent false principles. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 297 



Sacrifice. Removing evils. 



OFFERING SACRIFICE. 

677. An " Offering signifies Worship, or a life according to the 
Precepts of the Word, and to " offer " the two spiritual principles 
of Love and Faith, signified by " young pigeons " and " turtle- 
doves/' implies the sacrifice of the Love of Self, which will suffer 
until it is removed, and which will occupy the Six Days of Re- 
generation. Although it appears to the regenerating man as if 
he removed his own sins by resisting them, this is only an Appear- 
ance, which is permitted so that man shall in freedom strive 
against evil and falsity, for the power to do this is from the Lord 
alone. Every man must bear the fruit of his own iniquity, for 
his deeds are recorded by himself in his own Book of Life, and 
there they will remain, for his works follow him, and the scar of 
every sin will not be effaced through Eternity. 

678. The Lord bears iniquities away and removes them in pro- 
portion as men desist from them, and no farther, for He saves a 
man only through what appears to be his own efforts, for there 
must be a reciprocal conjunction between the Giver of Life and 
its receptacle. Yet man of himself alone cannot remove the least 
evil from his Proprium, although the power is given him to desist 
from sin if he chooses, and then the Lord removes the evil and 
enters the Proprium and re-creates it with spiritual principles, 
bearing the iniquity " without the camp " to the circumference, 
and saves man from his own evil Proprium, by redeeming or 
liberating him from the influence of this evil spirit from Hell, or 
Self Love. 

679. The evil that a man has done in the past, cannot be separ- 
ated from his responsibility, but will remain as his own through 
Eternity, for the sin which he has committed cannot be imputed 
to any other person, and therefore it cannot be absolutely detached 
from his individuality ; but so far as the Lord enters by means of 
love and obedience to the Precepts of the Word, so far the evils 
and falses of the Proprium are removed to the outer boundary of 
the individuality of the regenerating man. 



298 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Heaven and Hell. The natural degree of life. 

680. Heaven does not extinguish Hell, but in the regenerating 
man, removes those evil and false principles which are from Hell, 
for the Life of Good and Truth from the Lord by means of the 
Word, constitutes Heaven, and these are the principles which re- 
move evil and falsity, when man desists from and resists evil. 
Thus man, who in and of himself alone is a Hell in miniature, by 
regeneration becomes a Heaven, and as far as Heavenly Life 
enters his nature, Hell is removed, but the evil he has done in 
the past will never be separated from his individuality, although 
the regenerating man will be washed and purified from it in his 
actual life in the future by means of the Truths of the Word. He 
can never glory in self-righteousness, but can look back and to 
the outside, to his past wicked thoughts and actions, which will 
always be presented before his mental vision, when he is tempted 
to exalt himself, or look away from the Lord ; for whenever he 
turns away from the Center of his spiritual universe, he looks to 
the circumference where all his evils and falses are dormant, and 
he sees his own righteousness as " filthy rags." 

And when they had performed all things according to 
the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their 
own city Nazareth. Luke 2 : 39. 

681. When the Precepts of the Word are obeyed from 
interior motives of Love conjoined with Truth, which 
takes place during the Fourth Day of Creation, they 
enter the Exterior or Natural principles of the External 
mind and invigorate them with spiritual life, and thus 
they bring the natural life nearer the Lord and farther 
away from the hereditary evil of the Proprium, for 
" Galilee" signifies the Natural principles of the External 
mind which receive the Natural or Literal Truths of 
the Word. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 299 
Instruction frcm the Word. Development of thought 

682. By the " City of Nazareth," is signified the Doc- 
trine or Instruction received from the Literal Sense of 
the Word, within which the Interior principles of spiri- 
tual life reside and are revealed to the mind. As the 
evil and false principles are removed in the regenerating 
man, the Appearances of Truth which are upon the sur- 
face of the Literal Sense of the Word, are proportion- 
ately dispersed, and thus material ideas of the nature 
of the Word are gradually dissipated, and a true con- 
ception of its Divinity is formed within the Rational 
Faculty, which is born into life, and increases in deve- 
lopment. 

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled 
with wisdom ; and the grace of God was upon him. 

Luke 2 : 40. 

683. By "the child grew," is signified the further per- 
fection of the Rational Faculty from the entrance of the 
Lord as a child from the Internal mind, for " growing " 
signifies advancing in interior knowledges of the Word. 
"And waxed strong in spirit," signifies increasing per- 
ception of the Word, for "strength" is predicated of 
Truth. 

684. The Spirit is the whole man himself which is 
within the physical body, and is the complex of all the 
faculties of the spiritual body. The Soul is the Interior 
life of the spiritual body, or the very Spiritual Essence 
of man, while the Spirit is the Spiritual Substance of 
man. The Spirit of man is not a shapeless etherial 
vapor, but is the real man himself, with all his faculties 



soo 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Salvation from death. The Grace of God. 

as a tangible object of thought. It is not the death of 
the physical frame which man should fear, but that Death 
of the Spiritual Perceptions which is caused by dis- 
obedience to the Precepts of Life, which turns the Divine 
Love and Wisdom of the Lord into the Love of Self and 
the World, and thus into hatred and falsity, so that the 
Good and Truth of the Word cannot be seen. To save 
man from this Death, the Lord has entered the world 
by means of the Word, and made known the Principles 
of Spiritual Life, by obedience to which, every faculty 
of the spirit will be kindled into existenee, and "wax 
strong," and be "filled with wisdom." 

685. " Filled with wisdom," denotes that the Divine 
Truth reigns within the whole man, even though all the 
evils and falses of the Proprium are not yet removed. 
True Wisdom is derived from Love, and is an Internal 
perception of the Divine Truth of the Word. Where 
the Divine Truth reigns, the Proprium of man cannot 
rule over the Affections, for if a man loves the Truths 
of the Word by obeying them, they give him such in- 
ward delight that Self-love appears to him in a diabolical 
form, so that he is led to shun those evil and false prin- 
ciples which destroy spiritual life. 

686. " And the grace of God was upon him," signifies 
that humiliation which is derived from the Affection of 
Truth, denoted by "Grace." This humiliation is the 
inward acknowledgment that in man alone, there is 
nothing but evil, and that in his own strength he has 
not power to look to the Lord, or receive spiritual in- 



THE NATURE OF TEE WORD OF GOD. 301 



Mercy. True humiliation, 

struction from the Word. " Mercy" signifies humiliation 
or adoration which is derived from the Affection of Good, 
and when both words are used together in the Word, 
Mercy denotes adoration from Love, and Grace repre- 
sents humiliation. There is no humiliation, or Grace, 
where the Love of Self reigns, for if a person who is thus 
ruled, assumes the external appearance of humility, he 
is filled with Self-righteousness on account of his apparent 
meekness. 

687. Thus the " Grace of God " is upon the External 
mind of the regenerating man, into which the Lord Jesus 
is entering as the Holy Child, growing, waxing strong, 
and being filled with wisdom. This is the " earth" 
which the Lord is entering by means of the Word, and 
is the Human Principle He is assuming, which is to be 
made Divine. The whole work of regeneration is from 
the Lord alone. The Internal mind is the sinless re- 
ceptacle of the Lord alone, who has there entered and 
reigns supremely as Jehovah God. 

688. This " Grace of God," or humiliation, exists on account of 
the hereditary human principle derived from the " mother," or the 
natural principle of the External mind, which is to be made 
Divine by being governed by spiritual principles which fill the 
Internal mind from the Internal Sense of the Word. When the 
regenerating man is in a true state of humiliation, he divests 
himself of all ability to think and do anything from himself, and 
submits himself altogether to the Lord, and thus accedes to the 
Divine Principles of the Word, or the Lord who fills the Internal 
mind. This is the conjunction of the Internal mind with the 
External mind of the regenerating man, and thus of the Internal 
Sense with the Literal Sense of the Word within him in the order 
of regeneration, signified by the Fourth Day of Creation. 



302 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The waters bringing forth. Physical science. 



THE FIFTH DAY OF CREATION ; 

OR, 

THE FIFTH STATE OF REGENERATION. 

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly 
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may 
fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 

Gen. 1 : 20. 

689. It lias been illustrated that "Waters" denote 
the knowledges and scientific principles which are stored 
in the External memory concerning the Literal Sense of 
the Word. To "bring forth" denotes acknowledgment 
in faith and act, of the Literal Truths of the Word, and 
" abundantly," which is predicated of Truths from Good, 
signifies the prolification of the knowledges of these 
Truths, arising from a life according to them. By 
*' moving," or motion, is denoted a change of state in 
active progression, and by " creatures that have life," is 
denoted Scientific Truths in which there is Good, or 
which have been made alive by obedience. 

690. These Scientific Truths are principles connected with the 
Word of God, and do not refer to the laws and axioms of physical 
science. All the self-evident truths of physical science exist from 
the Laws of Divine Order, but they belong to the degree of purely 
natural thought, and have no relation to the spiritual regeneration 
of men, excepting by the orderly laws of correspondence, for all 
natural things correspond to spiritual principles, but are in entirely 
distinct degrees of life. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 303 



True life. Moving creatures and fowls. 



691. After the "Great Lights" are kindled and placed in the 
Internal principle of the Rational Faculty, from which the Ex- 
ternal principle receives light, the regenerating man then begins 
to truly live. In the preceding states he was not filled with 
true spiritual life, because the Good which he did, he supposed 
originated from himself, and the Truths which he uttered, he 
imagined he spoke from his ow T n knowledge. Since man in him- 
self alone is spiritually dead, and he originates nothing but what 
is evil and false, therefore what he produces from himself is not 
alive, in consequence of his inability to do good from a principle 
which has no life in itself, for Good can only be derived from the 
real Fountain of Good, the Inmost Life of the Word. 

692. In the development of spiritual life in which the regene- 
rating man is led from the Appearance of Truth to the reality of 
spiritual principles, the Lord permits him at first to suppose that 
he does Good and speaks Truth from himself, because in the first 
states of regeneration he is incapable of conceiving otherwise, nor 
can he in any other manner be led to perceive and believe that 
all Goodness and all Truth is from the Lord alone. 

693. While in the previous states, the Good and Truths 
which are in him are compared to the "grass," and also 
to the "herb yielding seed," and to the "tree yielding 
fruit," all of which are inanimate ; but when he has 
arrived at the Fifth State, he is vivified by Love and 
Faith, and believes that the Lord operates all the Good 
which he does, and all the Truth which he speaks, and 
in this State he is compared to the "moving creature 
that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth." 
"Fowls," or "flying creatures," signify Truths, and in 
the opposite sense they represent Falsity, and here they 
signify Spiritual Truths because they fly above the 
" earth" or External mind. Natural Truths are such as 
pertain to the Literal Sense of the Word, and which 



304 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Exterior forms of expression. Fishes. 

take their form of expression from the correspondence 
of things and ideas which exist in the physical world of 
substance and natural thought, which are exterior to 
the Interior Principle of the Word, and thus do not 
originate from any Apparent events or circumstances in 
this physical world, but which exist from their corre- 
spondence with the Spiritual Principles of the Word. 

694. The "Open firmament of heaven," is the illum- 
inated Rational Faculty which is open above to receive 
influx and communication from the Heaven of the 
Internal mind, which is the Temple of the Lord in the 
regenerating man, and this " opening" is only by means 
of the Truths of the Word which are loved and there- 
fore obeyed, and it can only take place by the removal 
of the Love of Self and the World. 

695. The " waters bring forth abundantly the moving 
creatures," which are called " Fishes" throughout the 
Word, and they signify the Scientific principles of the 
External mind, animated by a Living Faith, whether 
mentioned in the Old or New Testament. A " Fisher" 
is a spiritual principle which instructs the Natural prin- 
ciple of the mind in the Truths of the Literal Sense of 
the Word. These "fishes" are the Natural Truths with 
which the " multitudes " are fed in the Gospel narratives, 
and which fill the "nets" of the "fishers." By "multi- 
tudes" are not signified men, women, and children, but 
principles of the External mind which are to be fed with 
the Natural or Literal Truths of the Word. By a " net" 
is signified the external sensual principle of the mind 
which is the receptacle of the "moving creatures," or 
"fishes." 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 305 



Birds, beasts and fishes. The Inmost Life of the Word. 

696. The Literal Sense of the Word abounds in the 
mention of " birds," " beasts," and " fishes," and any 
thoughtful person may readily perceive in reading the 
Word, that Spiritual Principles are indicated by these 
names, instead of the objects which are mentioned, for 
without this Interior meaning in the Book called The 
Word of God, the mentioning of such insignificant 
objects and things would be trifling with the Eternal 
Principles which save men from sin. 

697. All Truths from the Word which are received into the 
life by obedience, are from the Lord, and contain within them 
Celestial and Spiritual Principles, which, could they be seen in 
the world, would appear as a Living Human Principle, because it 
contains the Life which constitutes man an angel in Heaven when 
he is regenerated by it. This Living Human Principle is seen 
in the Gospels of the Evangelists, where it is personified in the 
Human Form of the Lord Jesus Christ, first in the world of 
material thought, and to those who love to do His Command- 
ments, He is revealed as the Inmost Life of the Word thus per- 
sonified to the ultimate degree of natural thought. Every single 
expression, idea, and least principle of thought received and used 
by an angelic man has life, because the hereditary Proprium is 
subdued and removed, and therefore every Thought contains an 
Affection which proceeds from the Lord who is Life alone, and 
there is no obstruction from the Love of Self. 

And God created great whales, and every living crea- 
ture that moveth, which the waters brought forth 
abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl 
after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Gen, 1 : 21. 

698. Every minute principle in the universe of mind 
and nature is in subordination to some general principle 
as a means of its existence and subsistence. "Great 

T 



306 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Whales. Jonah. 

Whales " signify the general principles of the Scientifics 
of the External mind which are animated by a Living 
Faith which God creates. By a Living Faith is meant 
a belief in the Precepts of the Word which govern the 
life. The " Great Fish " which swallowed the prophet 
"Jonah," signifies the general knowledges of the Literal 
Sense of the Word which are applied to confirm false 
doctrines. A " Prophet " signifies the Divine Truth of 
the Word which teaches. 

699. When the Literal Sense is used to confirm evil and false 
principles which originate from the Love of Self and the World, 
the Essential Living Truth of the W orcl is " swallowed," or 
obscured by the Appearances of Truth, and the simple Precepts of 
Love to the Lord and the Neighbor are hidden by the " traditions 
of men," which tend to place more stress upon matters concerning 
belief, than a life according to these Two precepts. As Wisdom 
exists from Love within ; as the External proceeds from the 
Internal ; as Truth is from Good, and as the circumference of a 
circle is projected from its center, so a True Faith results from a 
life in obedience to the Word from Interior motives, or Affection. 

700. The prophet " Jonah " signifies the Lord, or the Internal 
Sense of the Word, which at the end of " three days and three 
nights," or a full state of preparation of the regenerating man, is 
cast out "upon the dry land" The "sea" in which this "great 
fish exists, signifies the false principles which are derived, from 
the Love of Self, on which the ship of false doctrine floats, and 
in wmich the sensual principles signified by " fishes," confirm all 
the fallacies of evil and false principles. " Jonah " being cast into 
the "'sea," signifies the temptation which the regenerating man 
experiences before the " dry land " or External mind perceives the 
simple Truth of the Word as indicated by the Literal Sense 
separated from false doctrines ; by obedience to which Truth the 
" ground " is prepared to receive the Life of the Internal Sense. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 307 



Every living creature. The blessing of the Lord. 

701. "Every living creature that moveth," signifies 
that all the Scientifics or Natural Truths in the External 
mind are vivified with a Living Principle derived from 
Love, which are now brought forth " abundantly" from 
a principle of Affection, according to their quality, or the 
requirements of the individuality of the regenerating 
man, in his preparation for usefulness. 

702. " Fowls" signify Thoughts. "Wings" denote 
Spiritual Truths from the Word, because the Eational 
Faculty is derived and exists from them, and which sees 
from the Light of Heaven, which is Spiritual Truth. 
The wings of fowls, or birds, are like the arms and hands 
pertaining to man, which signify the power of Divine 
Truth. "Winged fowls" therefore signify thoughts 
containing Spiritual Truths which are derived from the 
Word of God, and the perception is implanted in the 
regenerating man that these Truths are from the Lord, 
and that the Word is Divine Truth, which perception is 
signified as before by the expression "And God saw 
that it was good." 

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, 
and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply 
on the earth. Gen. 1 : 22. 

703. " God blessed them," signifies the presence of the 
Lord within the spiritual principles which are entering 
the External mind of the regenerating man, enriching 
them with Celestial and Spiritual Good. The Lord is 
present or remote with every man in proportion as he 



308 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The presence of the Lord. The number five. 

loves the Neighbor from Internal motives. Every prin- 
ciple or receptacle which contains the Living Presence 
of the Lord, becomes "fruitful" and "multiplies" itself 
to a great degree, which does not appear while a man 
lives in the state of natural thought, but to an incompre- 
hensible degree as the Eational Faculty is illuminated. 
"Fructification" is predicated of states of Love, and 
"Multiplication," of states of Truth, or Faith, which 
now enter and fill the natural scientific receptacles of 
the External mind, from the Literal Sense of the Word, 
within which the Spiritual Truths are developed and 
increased, which is signified by "and fill the seas, and 
let fowl multiply in the earth." 

And the Evening and the Morning were the Fifth Day. 

Gen. 1 : 23. 

704. Thus the consummation of this State of Regen- 
eration progresses from the obscurity of " evening" 
toward the light of "morning." The number "Five" 
signifies "much" and is predicated of Truths, and in 
this State denotes these Truths which are vivified by 
animated spiritual principles. 

705. During the progress of regeneration, the experience and 
conflicts which occur in the External mind in the removal of the 
evils and falsities of the Proprium are represented in the historical 
narrative of the wise men worshipping the Infant Jesus, and by 
Herod seeking His life and the consequent flight into Egypt, as 
given in the second chapter of the Book of Matthew, which will 
be interpreted by the Spiritual principles illustrated in the pre- 
ceding pages. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 309 



Perception of the Internal Sense. Herod. 



THE INFANCY OF JESUS. 

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in 
the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise 
men from the East to Jerusalem. Matt. 2: 1. 

706. It has been illustrated that " Jesus, born in 
Bethlehem" is the Rational Faculty which is enlight- 
ened to perceive the Internal Sense of the Word, and 
that this is the Son of God who is born within the mind 
of the regenerating man, and who is to enter the External 
mind in proportion as the hereditary evil of the Pro- 
prium is removed. The state of the false principles 
derived from the Love of Self, which govern the unre- 
generated Proprium is represented by the " Days of 
Herod the king," but as the Incarnation of the Lord 
has begun in the External mind, the power of the Pro- 
prium must yield, and the influence of its evil and false 
spirits be gradually overcome and dispersed, for the 
perception is now implanted that the Word is Divine 
Truth, which is the Lord Himself. 

707. The Truths which teach this knowledge are the 
" Wise men," who are from the " East," or the Lord, and 
who come to this " Jerusalem," which here signifies False 
Doctrine over which " Herod " is the king, because false 
doctrine is derived from the Appearances of Truth in 
the Literal Sense of the Word, when a man who is ruled 
by the Love of Self engages in External worship. 



310 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The King of the Jews. Historical facts. 

Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? for 
we have seen his star in the East, and are come to 
worship him. Matt. 2 : 2. 

708. " Saying" signifies communication to the mind, 
or perception that there should be received further 
instruction from the Word. The " Jews " here signify 
the Interior principles of the Word, and the " King " is 
the Divine Truth, or Internal Sense of the Word, which 
governs the Truths of the Literal Sense. " For we have 
seen his Star in the East," signifies that the Truths which 
have led to this perception were the Heavenly know- 
ledges represented by the " Star in the East," which are 
from the Divine Wisdom, and are the constant guiding 
principles of Truth and of Life, which is signified by 
" and are come to worship him," for to worship the Lord, 
denotes the faithful performance of every duty in life, 
by which the Lord is acknowledged and confessed, and 
the spiritual and temporal welfare is thus regarded. 

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was 
troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Matt. 2 : 3. 

709. When the false principles of the Proprium per- 
ceive the entrance of the Divine Truth of the Word 
illuminating the Rational Faculty, a disturbance occurs 
in the External mind, for the false doctrines which have 
been confirmed from the Literal Sense, are brought into 
connection with the Light from Heaven. All these facts 
of Spiritual History occur within the life of the regener- 
ating man, and are not physical events ot a past worldly 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



311 



Spiritual events, - Chief priests and scribes. 

history. Concerning these Spiritual events, unless the 
reader knows something of the operation of his own 
mind in the word of regeneration, and is attentive to the 
principles which are operating within his own experience, 
he cannot know what is meant by the Illumination of 
the Eational Faculty, and that in this state there is dis- 
turbance and trouble at the beginning, and that peace 
and tranquility do not begin until victory triumphs over 
each temptation and conflict. The more a man has been 
absorbed in material and sensual ideas concerning the 
Word, the more severe will be the conflict between 
Truth and Falsity. The field of combat is the External 
mind, which alone is troubled during temptation. 

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and 
scribes of the people together, he demanded of them 
where Christ should be born. Matt. 2 : 4. 

710. The Love of Self which rules the Proprium is 
represented by " Herod the King," and as he governs 
the " Jerusalem" which is here treated of, so also the 
"chief priests and scribes of the people" who are 
governed by him, represent evil and false principles. 
In a good sense, the " chief priests" represent the Lord 
as to his Divine Love, and are the principles of Good in 
in the Word which lead the regenerating man to obey 
its Truths. A "Scribe" denotes the Word from which 
Doctrine, or Spiritual Instruction, is derived, because a 
scribe records thoughts, and the Word is a record of 
Divine Thoughts. By " People," is signified Truths. 



312 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Evils priests and false scribes. Freedom of belief. 

711. In the opposite sense, "the chief priests and 
scribes of the people," signify the adulteration of the 
Goods and the falsification of the Truths of the Literal 
Sense of the Word. The Internal Sense cannot be falsi- 
fied, because it is revealed only to the regenerating man 
whose life is principled in the Good and Truth of the 
Word, as far as he has comprehended it. By "De- 
manded " is signified Searching, and the Literal Sense 
as interpreted by false doctrines, is examined concern- 
ing the Humanity of the Lord, which is signified by 
" where Christ should be born." These are temptations 
which arise in the External mind of the regenerating 
man from the yet unregenerated Proprium which is to 
be overcome. 

INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 

712. The Literal Sense of the Word is for all mankind, however 
their religious doctrines may differ, and as it reads the same in 
every language in regard to natural ideas, whether the reader is 
in the life of true or false doctrines, it is permitted every person 
to believe freely what seems true to his comprehension, accord- 
ing to his own state of life. If this freedom were not given to 
each man, there would be no reception of the Word, because 
there would be no acknowledgement that it is authoritative as 
a Religious Teacher, and thus even the unregenerated Proprium 
looks to the Literal Sense, and although it may falsely interpret 
its meaning to confirm its own state, the words of Spiritual His_ 
tory and Prophetic Utterance remain the same and contain the 
Interior Principles of Divine Truth. 

713. The unregenerated Proprium of the man whose Rational 
Faculty has been illuminated, is filled with the knowledge of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, and in the struggle for supremacy, in 
the Infancy of the Child Jesus, seeks to confirm its own love by 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 313 



Evil and false confirmations. Time and place. 

doctrines which have been previously implanted in the External 
memory, and which agree with the evil and false principles of 
the Proprium. An evil priest and a false scribe may teach the 
Literal Sense of the Word, for its Truth is the same whether 
uttered by the voice of a good or evil man, or if written by a 
true or hypocritical writer. 

And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea; for 
thus it is written by the prophets. Matt. 2 : 5. 

714. "And they said unto him," signifies the com- 
munication of this knowledge to the understanding of 
the Proprium, for the unregenerated Proprium is meant 
by " Herod the King," and as it is ruled by the Love of 
Self, no Internal principle of the Word can enter the 
domain of this evil " king " while he reigns, and all per- 
ception of its meaning is closed by the natural ideas 
which occupy the External mind in which the unregen- 
erated Proprium is not yet removed, and which are only 
thought of when the Word is read ; for thoughts of time 
and place obscure the Spiritual Principles which are held 
within the Literal form of words. This temptation and 
obscurity occurs in the experience of every regenerating 
man until the Appearances of Truth are dissipated by 
the Love of Self and the World being removed, and the 
Proprium of the External mind is regenerated and filled 
with spiritual life. 

715. Then it will be discerned that "In Bethlehem of 
Judea" signifies the Perception of the Rational^ Faculty 
illuminated from the Internal mind which is ruled by 
the Divine Love, and that "thus it is written by the 



314 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Signification of writing. The spiritual Governor. 

prophets," signifies that the Divine Truths of the Word 
are implanted in the life of those who perceive and re- 
ceive the Internal Sense, for to "write" signifies to 
implant in the life, and " Prophets " signify the Divine 
Truths of the Word. 

And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the 
least among the princes of Juda ; for out of thee shall 
come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 

Matt. 2 : 6. 

716. The "Land of Juda," signifies the regenerating 
man who is actuated by the Celestial principle of Love, 
and " Bethlehem " is the Perception of the Kational 
Faculty which exists from this principle. " Art not the 
least among the princes of Juda," signifies that this 
Perception is the Superior or Interior principle within 
the Primary Truths of Love to the Lord and the Neigh- 
bor, for a " Prince " signifies a primary or leading Truth. 

717. Out of this Interior principle of the Kational 
Faculty the " Governor" will proceed, in the perception 
of the Divine Truth of the Word in the External prin- 
ciple of the Kational Faculty, which presides over the 
Literal Truths of the Word which have been obeyed, 
and illustrates their spiritual meaning. By " Israel " is 
meant Spiritual Good which has been made alive in the 
Natural principle of the External mind, by obedience to 
the Truth which shines through the Literal Sense of the 
Word to, all who love the Lord and the Neighbor. The 
" Governor" is the Spiritual Sense of the Word received 
into the External principle of the Kational Faculty. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 



315 



Insidious self-love. Hypocrisy. 

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, 
enquired of them diligently what time the Star ap- 
peared. Matt. 2 : 7. 

718. Self-Love is so insidious in its nature that it seeks 
in every form to separate the External from the Internal 
mind, and to this end it assumes the Appearance of 
Truth as far as it can move the inmost principles of the 
Natural mind, and communicates with the True Doc- 
trines of Life from the Word, in order to observe the 
state of the progress of true knowledges from the Word, 
which will be destructive to the Love of Self. At this 
state of progress, the regenerating man is not aware of 
the insinuating nature of Self-Love, and does not per- 
ceive its operation, therefore it " privily" calls the "wise 
men." 

And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search 
diligently for the young child ; and when ye have found 
him, bring me word again, that I may come and wor- 
ship him also. Matt. 2 : 7. 

719. The audacity of the Proprium in the time of 
temptation, when the Light from Heaven seems obscured 
in the combats of regeneration, is illustrated in this 
verse. "He sent them to Bethlehem," signifies the 
directing of the Affections formed by the doctrines from 
the Word, to the Perception of the Interior principle of 
the Rational Faculty, to prove if there is a separation 
between the Rational Faculty and the External mind. 
The desire of the Proprium to rule over this Affection,, 
is signified by "And when ye have found him, bring mo 



316 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Perverted worship, The light of nature. 

word again." " That I may come and worship him also," 
signifies the desire of the Proprium to turn the Percep- 
tion of the Internal Sense of the Word into self-intelli- 
gence, so that profanation will pervert its meaning and 
thus destroy Internal worship, or Spiritual Life. 

720. As the unregenerated Proprium is nothing but evil, all 
External worship which is performed from it is Idolatry, for 
there is no inward life in it ; but worship which is derived from 
the Precepts of the Word is alive, because within all the principles 
of the Word, there is a Spiritual Sense which treats of all things 
which are from the Lord, and within the Spiritual Sense is the 
Celestial Sense which treats of the Lord alone. This Inmost 
Sense is above the comprehension of any man while living in the 
natural world of thought, but the Sanctity and Life of the Word 
is from this Source alone, within which is the Divine Being Him- 
self from whom all things exist. 

721. The Word is as a Divine Man. The Literal Sense is the 
Body, and the Internal Sense is the Soul which alone gives life 
to the Literal Sense, which thus has its Holiness from the Internal 
Sense within. It appears as if the Literal Sense vanishes or dies 
when the Internal Sense is revealed, when on the contrary, it does 
not vanish, but is vivified in the regenerating man by the Internal 
Sense. 

THE LIGHT OF NATURE. 

722. It is a common belief among educated men that without 
the Revealed Word, what is called the " Light of Nature," teaches 
that there is a God to be worshipped, and that there is an 
immortal life beyond the death of the physical frame, besides 
many other facts taught by the natural sciences. Scientific facts 
are natural truths which exist from Spiritual principles to which 
they correspond ; but man of himself, or in his own self derived 
intelligence, knows nothing concerning the Divine Principles of j 
Regeneration without the Revelation of the Word of God. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 317 



Natural self-intelligence. Worship of self. 



723. Since man is born into the hereditary evils of the Love of 
Self, which are such as to preclude the Divine influences entering 
his mind from the Lord, they open the door for the influx of evil, 
which causes him to be blind to Spiritual Principles. The " Light 
of Nature" is the self-intelligence of the Natural mind, which 
cannot elevate the thoughts above the Proprium into Spiritual 
Perception, without the Word of God. 

724. All the knowledge of Spiritual principles which men have 
possessed, has not been derived from their self-intelligence, al- 
though they may have seemed wise in their own estimation, 
and have supposed that they were originators of religious teach- 
ings, but their wisdom has been derived from doctrines which have 
in various forms descended through successive generations from 
those to whom Divine Revelation was given. 

725. The entire Word rests upon the two Precepts of Love to 
the Lord and the Neighbour, which are opposed to the Love of 
Self and the World, and thus the unregene rated Proprium turns 
away from the Lord and the Living Truths of the Word, and 
worships its own loves, using the Literal Sense of the Word to 
confirm false principles, and it would profane the Interior Truths 
of the Word if they could be known to that state, but the Love of 
Self cannot perceive where the " young child" is, and therefore 
cannot worship him." 

When they had heard the king, they departed ; and, lo, 
the star, which they saw in the East, went before them, 
till it came and stood over where the young child was. 
Matt. 2 : 9. 

726. " When they had heard the King," signifies that 
the Truths already implanted within the Eational Faculty 
perceive the temptations of the Proprium, and "they 
departed " signifies that they recede from or shun these 
evil influences. " And, lo, the Star, which they saw T in 



318 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Development of perception. 



Great joy. 



the East, went before them," signifies clearer perception 
by means of the knowledge of the Good and Truth of 
the Word, which leads to more Internal principles. 
" Till it came and stood over where the young child was," 
signifies the progression of this perception until the 
Rational Faculty discerns that this "young child" is 
the Son of God, and that He is the Word who is being 
made Divine in the External mind of the regenerating 
man. 

When they saw the Star, they rejoiced with exceeding 
great joy. Matt, 2:10. 

727. The knowledges which lead to the understand- 
ing of the Internal Sense of the Word are obtained by 
means of the Science of the Correspondence of natural 
things with Spiritual Principles, and this Science will 
be made known to all regenerating men who desire to 
know the true Source of the Divinity of the Word. 
This knowledge is a cause of "exceeding great joy," 
because the things of the physical world on every hand 
iDecome representative of the Spiritual Truths of the 
Word, not only the tangible objects of sense, but the 
orderly principles of science and art, and there is not a 
thing in this world which does not correspond to either 
Good or Truth, or its opposite evil and falsity. 

THE TRUE SOURCE OF INTELLECTUAL CULTURE. 

728. The Science of Correspondence is derived from the 
Internal Sense of the Word, and it is not an earthly science 
invented by the ingenuity of a finite mind. The Divine Truth 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF. GOD. 319 



Intellectual culture. Adoration of the Word. 



which is made manifest within the Word by the Spiritual Sense, 
attests its Divinity, and in all time to come, loving hearts will find 
within the Spiritual Sense of the Word, the most elevating 
intellectual science which the mind is capable of grasping. With 
these interior Truths every earthly science and knowledge will 
co-operate and help illustrate, and regenerating men will rejoice 
at every discovery in the world of physical science, and refined 
Art will join hands with the True Source of all enlightenment, 
for by the Internal Sense of the Word, " Mercy and Truth are 
met together ; righteousness and yyeoxe have kissed each other. 
Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look 
down from heaven." The adoration of the Word which is 
expressed in such terms of affection in the One Hundred and 
Nineteenth Psalm will then be understood by the man who obeys, 
for in keeping these Divine Precepts " there is great reward," for 
these are the treasuries which contain the spiritual riches of 
Heaven. 

And when they were come into the house, they saw the 
young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and 
worshipped him ; and when they had opened their 
treasures, they presented unto him gifts ; gold and 
frankincense and myrrh. Matt, 2:11. 

729. " House" signifies the Eational Faculty where 
Good and Truth are conjoined in the regenerating man, 
because the Marriage of these Two Principles from the 
Word constitutes one enlightened mind which dwells 
within, and "to come into the house" signifies the en- 
trance of these Affections for True Doctrine from the 
Word, or "wise men," which perceive its Internal Sense, 
which have led to this Affection by obedience, which is 
signified by "they saw the young child with Mary his 
mother." The Son of God is the Internal Sense of the 



320 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Opening the treasures. Formation of the affections. 

Word which has entered the Affections of the regener- 
ating man who has loved and obeyed its simple Precepts 
as they are given in the Literal Sense. 

730. These Affections which are formed from True 
Doctrine " fall clown," or prostrate themselves in humility 
and acknowledgment, and worship the Lord from In- 
ternal principles. By " when they had opened their 
treasures," is signified the communication and conjunc- 
tion of the Divine Truths of the Word within the life of 
the regenerating man, and the acknowledgment that the 
Affections and Thoughts which are filled with Good and 
Truth from the Word, are "gifts" from the Lord alone, 
is signified by " they presented unto him gifts.*' These 
Affections of Good and Truth are " Gold," or Celestial 
Good ; " Frankincense," or Spiritual Good; and "Myrrh," 
or Natural Good. 

731. Celestial Good is Love to the Lord. Spiritual Good is 
Love to the Neighbour. Natural Good pertains to the natural 
affections, which give delight to the natural principle of the 
External mind, from external things in speech and actions with 
which the natural life communicates. The delight of Natural 
Good is in the life of usefulness to others. Before Regeneration 
begins, the Natural Good in man's external life is only an 
Appearance of Good, because it is not vivified with Spiritual Life 
from the Living Principles of the Word. 

732. All good affections which are within the regenerating man, 
contain the conjunctive principles of Truth, because in the order 
of regeneration, in being re-created from natural hereditary evil 
and falsity to Spiritual Good and Truth, the Affections of Good 
are formed by means of Truths from the Word, and Good is the 
Internal principle of Truth, which latter becomes its form or 
boundary. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 321 



Warning. The other Life. 

And being warned of God in a dream that they should 
not return to Herod, they departed into their own 
country another way. Matt. 2:12. 

733. To be " warned of God in a dream," signifies that 
foresight is implanted within the perception that the 
Love of Self is fostered by the Appearances of Truth 
which are in the Literal Sense of the Word, when there 
is no Internal Sense acknowledged. "They departed 
into their own country another way," signifies that True 
Doctrine from the Word recedes from the Appearances; 
of Truth into the Internal Sense from which it is derived, 
and which is the opposite of false doctrines which favor 
the Love of Self and thus lead to " Herod," the king of 
the Proprium. 

DREAMS AND VISIONS. 

734. During sleep, the exterior thought is quiescent, and in 
Dreams there is only the appearance of time, because the exterior 
natural principle of the mind is not operating through the external 
senses. If men understood the Science of Correspondence with 
which the Word is written, they could interpret their own spiri- 
tual states in every dream which could be retained and brought 
forth from the external memory. The difference between Dreams 
and Visions, exists in the fact that in Visions, things or principles 
are seen in the "other life" by those whose Interior Sight is opened^ 
but which are not seen by the physical eye. This Interior Sight 
is the Rational Faculty of the regenerating man, and the " Other 
Life " is the Spiritual World of thought to which his mind has 
been elevated by the Internal Sense of the Word, which is in this 
Spiritual World. The " Other Life " should not be thought of as 
existing in a remote degree of space in distance far away, but as 

an elevated or spiritual state of Interior Affection and Thought 

u 



322 



TEE FACE OF JESUS: 



False visions. 



Genuine visions. 



now existing within the regenerating man. There is no degree 
of Spiritual Affection and Thought opened to the man who has 
not begun the work of a regenerate life. 

735. There are True and False Visions. Many persons of 
irrational and credulous minds see Visions in phantasies which 
are induced by states of their unregenerated Proprium. Such 
persons are visionaries, and the things which they see are illusions 
proceeding from memories of external objects fostered into the 
appearance of reality by the Proprium, which are seen from the 
obscure light of self-intelligence. Such Visions are dangerous to 
cherish, because the tendency is to lead them to think that they 
are specially favored with gifts which others do not possess, and 
instead of diligently searching the Word by means of which their 
Interior Sight may be opened in an orderly manner, so that they 
may have open communication with the Spiritual World, they 
await a visionary influx of revelation which they vaunt before 
their neighbors with a parade of mysticism, as though they pos- 
sessed a key to the mysteries of Heaven, to which others have 
not the same access. Such is the phantasy induced upon them 
by their own evils and falses, which are fostered by ignorance of 
the True Spiritual Principles of the Word. 

736. Genuine Visions are the actual sight of the things which 
exist in the Spiritual World of the Word, which are seen by the 
eyes of the spirit, or Rational Faculty, and not by the physical 
eye, and such Visions may be seen by any persons who desire, by 
leading a regenerate life according to the Truths of the Word. 
When the Interior Sight of the Rational Faculty is opened, 
spiritual things are seen in a Light far clearer than the noon-day 
light of the natural world of self intelligence, and not only the 
representatives which surround spirits are seen, but the spirits 
themselves, by a perception of the quality of the life which flows 
from them. These " Spirits " are the Truths of the Word which 
form the lives of regenerating men. 

737. Such visions are permitted only to the regenerating man 
when clearer revelation is to be made to the Rational Faculty 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



323 



The spiritual world within the Word. The spirits near man. 

concerning the Internal Sense of the Word. All things which 
appear in the Literal Sense of the Word are for the spiritual 
knowledge of men who are in the physical world, otherwise they 
would not have been written in this form of expression, which 
corresponds in natural thought to their prior existence in the 
Spiritual World, and the Spiritual Sense may be known to all 
who desire higher knowledge of Divine things, by means of a life 
according to the Precepts of the Word. Then will the spiritual 
state of regenerating men advance upon and within the " earth," 
in fulfilment of the prophecy in the Book of Joel : " And it shall 
come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
Jlesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your 
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions ; 
and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days 
will I pour out my Spirit." To " dream dreams " signifies to 
receive revelation, and to " see visions " signifies to perceive 
revelation. 

738. The Lord reveals the things of the Spiritual World to the 
* c Prophets " not only by Visions, but by Dreams, which are equally 
representative and significative. There are three kinds of Dreams. 
The First come immediately through Heaven, or the Internal 
mind, from the Lord, such as the prophetical dreams recorded 
in the Word, which are in obscurity until they are coherently 
interpreted by the laws of correspondence which are derived from 
the Internal sense of the Word. The second kind occur by 
means of "angelic spirits," or the Goods and Truths of the Word 
which teach the spiritual significance of the Literal Sense of the 
Word to the man who is yet dreaming, and the Third kind result 
from the influence of spirits who are near man when he is asleep, 
and which are significative of Divine principles; These " spirits " 
are the Literal Truths of the Word which are nearest the state of 
the regenerating man when he is in the sleep of natural thought 
concerning the Word, before his Rational Faculty is awakened to 
the perception of the Internal Sense, and that this is the Son of 
God, 



324 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The desire of evil spirits. Death, sleep, dreaming, awaking; 



739. Evil spirits have the greatest and most burning desire to 
infest and assault man during the sleep of natural thought ; but 
he is then especially in the care of the Lord, who does not permit 
the Freedom of the Will to be violated, for Love never sleeps. 
These " evil spirits " are the lusts of the Proprium which so fiercely 
assault and infest the regenerating man when he is entering the 
preparation for spiritual life; but while he is in the state of 
spiritual sleep concerning the Internal Sense of the Word, the 
Proprium has no power to overcome him and lead him away 
from the Lord, or the Word, while he lives in obedience to the 
Literal Truths of the Word, although he is yet asleep in regard to 
their Interior meaning. 

740. Spiritual Death results from a life of disobedience to the 
Word, but Spiritual Sleep is a preparatory state of obedience 
prior to the awakening of the dawn of the Spiritual Sense, to 
which a Dream is an intermediate state of obscurity; but a 
Vision is the clear opening or awakening of the Kational Faculty 
to perceive the things of the Spiritual World of the mind as re- 
vealed by the Internal Sense of the Word. Phantastical dreams 
arise from the Love of Self, and are especially caused by intem- 
perance in drinking and eating, or imbibing and appropriating 
false doctrines from the Word, which causes incoherence and ob- 
scurity concerning the Actual Truths of the Literal Sense. 

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the 
Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, 
and take the young child and his mother, and fiee 
into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word ; 
for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 

Matt. 2:13. 

741. When the perceptions of the True Doctrine from 
the Word have receded from the Appearances of Truth, 
the Divine Truth of the Word is revealed to the Eational 
Faculty, signified by " Joseph." "Arise," signifies the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



325 



Arising. Order of Instruction. 

elevation of the Kational Faculty from the temptation 
resulting from the conjunction of the Proprium with the 
Appearance of Truth, to the Internal Sense of the Word, 
1 by the Affection for the Truth which has been fostered 
by the Literal Sense as a " mother," from which the per- 
ception of the Internal Sense is born. 

V42. The principles of the Internal Sense are now to 
be confirmed by the Literal Sense, which is signified by 
'and flee into Egypt," for " Egypt" signifies the scientifics 
or knowledges of the Literal Sense of the Word in the 
natural principles of the External mind. Thus the en- 
lightened Kational Faculty, or the "young child," must 
receive instruction as earthly children gain knowledge, 
by means of the external objects and thoughts which 
are communicated by the Literal Sense of the Word. 
The Interior principle or Internal mind is from the 
Father, or Inmost Life of the Word, while the External 
mind which is to be regenerated by the Interior Divine 
Principles of the Word, is first formed within the Affec- 
tion for the Truth of the Literal Sense as a " mother," 
and this External Human Principle of the Word is to 
be made Divine by the entrance of the Interior Truths 
into the External mind. 

743. The External mind cannot be reduced to corre- 
spondence and conjunction with the Internal, excepting 
by knowledges derived from the Literal Sense of the 
Word. The External mind is corporeal and sensual, 
and is not receptive of Celestial and Spiritual principles 
until these knowledges are previously implanted as 



326 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Life of the Word. Egypt and magic. 

" seeds" in the "ground"; for within these knowledges 
Celestial principles find their recipient vessels, as "water- 
pots containing two or three firkins apiece." The Word 
contains the Life of the Lord in every part, although 
this fact does not appear in the External form by the 
Literal Sense alone. In the Internal Sense there is 
nothing said which has not relation to Him, or does not 
proceed from Him, for the Literal Sense, or earthly 
covering of the Word which He assumes for the sake of 
earthly men, is only an addition to the Internal Sense, 
or His Divine Essence which exists in the Heavens, and 
which has existed from Eternity. " Egypt " is the science 
of knowledges in respect to the Literal Sense of the 
Word, but when men seek to enter the Divine Principles 
of the Word from their self-derived intelligence which 
proceeds from the Love of Self, this science becomes 
perverted into magic and falsity, for "magic" signifies 
the perversion of order and the abuse of the Science of 
Correspondence. The good or evil meaning of " Egypt" 
in the Word, may be proved throughout the historical 
and prophetical expressions of the Old Testament. 
Thus the enlightened Eational Faculty flees into the 
Literal Sense of the Word with all its knowledges, in 
order that the Foundation may be laid for true Spiritual 
Science to be built upon, for the Foundation of all 
Heavenly Knowledge rests upon the Divinity of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, just as the spiritual body of 
man while in this physical world rests within the cor- 
poreal frame. 



WE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 327 



Further knowledge of the Literal Sense. Night. 

744. " And be thou there until I bring thee word," 
signifies the state of instruction of the "young child" in 
the regenerating man, in which the enlightened Kational 
Faculty must remain until its fall state, which will then 
be made known by the Lord, by clearer revelation con- 
cerning the Word, for until the knowledges of the Literal 
Sense have been fully received into the External memory, 
there is danger that the Proprium will assert itself in 
the effort to destroy the spiritual life which has begun 
to enter the External mind, which is signified by " for 
Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." 

When he arose, he took the young child and his mother 
by night, and departed into Egypt. Matt. 2 : 14. 

745. When the Kational Faculty is elevated above the 
temptations of the Proprium by the enlightenment which 
is born from the Affection of Truth to discern the ob- 
scurity which results from the influence of Self Love, 
signified by "by night," it resists this temptation and 
enters the State of Instruction from the Word here 
signified by " Egypt." 

And was there until the death of Herod ; that it might be 
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, 
saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Matt. 2 : 15. 

746. This Instruction of the External mind of the 
regenerating man in the scientifics and knowledges of 
the Literal Sense of the Word continues until the evils 
and falses of the Proprium, signified by " Herod," are 
removed. " That it might be fulfilled which was spoken 



328 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Fulfilment of prophecy, The coasts. 

of the Lord by the prophet," signifies that the Instruc- 
tion is according to the Laws of Divine Order in the 
progress of regeneration according to the Internal Sense, 
for thus the Prophetic Word reveals to the perception 
that the Divine Truth, or Son, will be received by those 
whose lives are governed by the knowledges of the 
Literal Sense which have been stored in the memory by 
the study of the Word as it has been given to the natural 
world of thought, and from which the Science of Corre- 
spondence is studied and verified, signified by " Egypt." 

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the 
wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and 
slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in 
all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, 
according to the time which he had diligently enquired 
of the wise men. Matt. 2: 16. 

747. During this State of Instruction, the evil and 
false influences of the Proprium are frustrated by the 
entrance of True Doctrine from the Word which causes 
separation between Truth and falsity, and this " Herod" 
is filled with hatred, for the Love of Self turns itself in 
aversion to the Light which is now entering the External 
mind of the regenerating man, and this hatred destroys 
in itself the entrance to that innocent state in which 
Truth is conjoined to Good in the natural mind, and 
obscures the perception of the Eational Faculty, so that 
even the Actual Truths of the Literal Sense, signified by 
" the " coasts thereof," are not received by the most 
exterior principles of the External mind, but are hidden 
by false doctrines. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



329 



The re-action of evil. Jeremy the prophet. 

748. This is the desire and effort of the Proprium, but 
in the Spiritual World, evil cannot injure or destroy 
Good, nor can falsity destroy Truth, and all hatred and 
deceit re-acts upon the evil principle itself and destroys 
its capacity for receiving Good and Truth from the Word, 
and thus the unregenerated Proprium destroys itself in 
the regenerating man, because when it is resisted, the 
Divine Truth enters with power to overcome its influence. 
By " two years old and under," is signified during the 
entire period or state of combat which began when the 
Proprium endeavored to influence the interior and ex- 
terior principles of the External mind by means of the 
"wise men," by attempting to pervert the Affections 
concerning True Doctrine from the Word. 

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy 
the prophet, saying, Matt. 2 : 17. 

749. Thus it is according to Divine Order that the evils 
of Self Love should re-act upon themselves according to 
the prophecy in Jeremiah which treats of the vastation 
or destruction of the evil Proprium of regenerating men. 
Where the name of a " Prophet " is mentioned, it does 
not mean a person, but the Divine Truth of the Prophetic 
Word which is fulfilled in the regenerating man. The 
word "Jeremiah" signifies Exaltation, and "exaltation" 
signifies the power of Divine Truth which exists from 
the Interior Principle of the Word which devastates 
and drives out the evils and falses of the Proprium 
during regeneration, and thus "Jeremy the prophet" 



330 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Lamentation. Weeping and mourning- 

Signifies the power of the Divine Truth of the Word 
which teaches the Rational Faculty in the combat 
against the Proprium. 

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weep- 
ing, and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her chil- 
dren, and would not be comforted, because they are 

not. Matt. 2 : 14. 

750. " In Rama," signifies those principles in the re- 
generating man which are receptive of Spiritual Truth 
from a Celestial origin, or from the Divine Love. The 
" Voice" which is heard, is the Divine Truth of the Word 
which is perceived and obeyed. " Lamentation," signi- 
fies the desolation which reigns in the External mind 
when the Internal Sense is obscured in the state of 
temptation. " Weeping," signifies the grief of the 
Understanding, and " Mourning" the grief of the Will. 
" Weeping" is manifested by tears, which are composed 
of water mingled with salt. The water of tears signifies 
grief on account of falsity, and "salt" signifies the 
spiritual devastation produced by false doctrines, and 
"tears" therefore signify grief on account of there being 
no understanding of Truth, while "Mourning" is an in- 
ward affection of grief which manifests itself in " Weep- 
ing." " Rachel," denotes Affection for the Interior Truth 
of the Word, and "weeping for her children," signifies 
the grief of spirit when the understanding of the Interior 
Goods and Truths of the Word is in darkness, when 
there is no apparent inflowing of knowledge concerning 
them, and when there is no perception of their coherent 
meaning. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



331 



Joseph in Egypt. Elevation above temptation, 



But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord 
appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. Matt. 2 : 7. 

751. At the end of this state of temptation, the Divine 
Truth of the Word shines with Interior Light into the 
Eational Faculty through the External scientifics of the 
Word, or the knowledges of the Literal Sense, by means 
of the science of Spiritual Correspondence, signified by 
"Joseph in Egypt," in which the Eational Faculty is 
being instructed. 

Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, 
and go into the land of Israel : for they are dead which 
sought the young child's life. Matt. 2 : 20. 

752. The Eational Faculty is now elevated from this 
state of instruction and temptation, through which the 
laws of Spiritual Correspondence are perceived, denoted 
by " Egypt," to the Interior Truth of the Word, for the 
" Land of Israel " signifies the regenerating man who 
obeys the Truths of the Word from a principle of Love. 
" For they are dead which sought the young child's life," 
signifies the removal of the evil and false principles of 
the Proprium, over which the Divine Truth from the Lord 
within the regenerating man has obtained the victory. 

And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, 
and came into the land of Israel. Matt. 2 : 21. 

753. This verse signifies the elevation of the Eational 
Faculty to clearer perception of the Internal Sense, by 
which this event of spiritual history is confirmed in the 
experience of the regenerating man, similar to the ex- 
pression 11 And God saw that it was good : and it was so. }> 



332 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The reign of Archelaus. Fear and warning. 

But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea 
in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go 
thither ; notwithstanding, being warned of God in a 
dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. Matt. 
2 : 22. 

754. " When he heard," signifies further perception of 
the Rational Faculty. "Archelaus" is the son of 
" Herod, and in the original language, signifies " a prince 
of the people." In a good sense the word "prince" 
signifies a leading Truth, and in the opposite sense it 
signifies a primary falsity of the Proprium. The word 
"people," in a good sense, has relation to Truth, and in 
the opposite sense, to falsity. A " Son," in a good sense, 
signifies a general Truth, and its opposite meaning de- 
notes falsity. As " Father," in a good sense signifies 
the Divine Good, in the opposite sense it signifies the 
evil of the Proprium, "Herod." "Judea," in a good 
sense, signifies the Celestial principles of the Internal 
mind, and in the opposite sense it denotes the voluntary 
principle of the Proprium over which "Archelaus" reigns, 

755. The Perception is imparted that the evil and 
false principles which reign in the will of the unregener- 
ated Proprium are not yet subdued. No evil exists in 
the Internal mind, and the enlightened Rational Faculty 
now holds the Proprium in aversion, which is signified 
by "He was afraid to go thither." "Being warned of 
God in a dream," signifies instruction derived from the 
Word, even though the Internal Sense is yet in obscurity, 
by obedience to which the lusts of the Proprium are 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 333 



Subjection of corporeal principles, Progressive degrees, 

resisted and avoided, and the corporeal and natural 
principles of the External mind are brought under the 
subjection of the Rational Faculty, which external prin- 
ciples are signified by "he turned aside into the parts 
of Galilee. 

THE PARTS OF GALILEE. 

756. There are Three general principles belonging to the 
External mind, viz: — The Corporeal, or Sensual principle, the 
Natural, or Material principle, and the Rational, or Intellectual 
principle. The Corporeal principle is not the physical frame 
which contains man, but is the Outermost principle by which the 
mind communicates through the senses with the corporeal frame, 
and thus comes in communication with the physical world. The 
Natural principle is the Middle, m which exists all material 
thoughts ; and the Rational principle is the Interior in which 
thoughts concerning the Word are Intellectual. So far as one 
principle prevails in the mind above the other, so far the person 
is either a Corporeal or Natural, or a Rational man. These Three 
Parts, or principles, communicate orderly with each other, the 
Corporeal with the Natural, and the Natural with the Rational. 

757. When the life of regeneration first begins, the man is in a 
Corporeal state of thought, but he possesses a latent faculty which 
renders him capable of being perfected. Afterwards, he enters a 
state of Natural thought concerning the Word, and at length he 
is led to a state of Rational thought. His regeneration takes 
place according to this progression, and his perception of the 
Internal sense is educated in this order of the " Parts of Galilee." 
The Corporeal principle communicates with the Natural by the 
things of sensuous perception, and the Natural principle commu- 
nicates with the Rational distinctly by those things which relate 

. to the Understanding, and which pertain to the Will, in order that 
the regenerating man may be re-created with spiritual life. The 
sensual principle of the Sight and Hearing, by which the Word 



tm 



TEE FACE OF JESUS: 



Correspondences of the senses. The interior memory. 

is read and its Truths inwardly heard and obeyed, especially are 
the external principles which perfect the Rational Faculty, and 
these have reference to the Understanding, while the correspon- 
dence of the sense of Touch, Smell and Taste, have especial respect 
to the Will. 

758. The Corporeal principle of the External mind by means 
of the senses, communicates with the Natural principle, which is 
the middle, or intermediate part ; for those ideas of thought which 
enter by the senses, as in reading or hearing the Word, repose in 
the Natural principle as in a receptacle, which is the External 
memory. The delights or enjoyments derived from these Natural 
Thoughts, pertain to the Will, and are called Natural Goods, 
whereas the scientiflcs or knowledges therein relate to the Under- 
standing, and are called Natural Truths, which are the Truths of 
the Literal Sense of the Word. Every regenerating man is first 
born into the Corporeal or Sensual degree of existence, in which 
the five senses which operate through the physical frame are to 
be opened by use. When he begins to think from the objects 
which are presented to the mind through these senses, his thoughts 
become Sensual, and rest in the Appearances of Truth, and in 
doctrines derived therefrom, from which he becomes Interiorly 
Sensual. He next advances to the world of Natural thought, and 
by the study of the Word, and a moral life in harmony with its 
Precepts, his thoughts become Interiorly Natural, and this is the 
First or Ultimate degree of Life, which is the receptacle of the 
Literal Sense of the Word, in which the Foundation is laid for 
the perception of the Internal Sense, which is discerned only by 
the Rational Faculty. 

759. The Natural principle of the External mind, by means of 
the thoughts of the things received through the senses, communi- 
cates with the Rational Faculty, or the Interior principle of the 
External mind. The thoughts which are elevated thence toward 
this Interior principle, repose themselves in the Rational Faculty 
as in a receptacle, which forms the Interior Memory. All the 
delights and enjoyments of the things stored within this Interior 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



335 



External and internal truths. Disorderly interpretation. 



Memory pertain to the Will, and are called Kational Goods, while 
Interior views and perceptions of these things are called Rational 
Truths. 

760. The things in the Natural principle which are derived 
from the exercise of the external senses> which are seen only in 
the Literal Sense of the Word, are called the External Truths of 
Good ; but those things which are derived from the exercise of 
the interior senses which receive the Internal principles of the 
Word, are called Interior Goods and Truths. Those things which 
are between these, and partake of each principle are Intermedi- 
ate Goods and Truths. Thus it may be comprehended by the 
regenerating man whose rational faculty is enlightened, and to 
him alone, what is signified by " the Parts of Galilee." 

761. The mind of the regenerating man receives the Interior 
Truths of the Word in the order of these Three Principles of the 
External mind. At first, the thoughts concerning these Divine 
Truths are Corporeal, in that the ideas of the realities of the 
spiritual world and spiritual science are pleasing to the corporeal 
principles of the mind, for at the beginning they take upon them- 
selves a corporeal form somewhat independent of their relation to 
the Word of God, and are thought of, just as the "angels" and 
"spirits" of the Word are considered as individualities external 
to these regenerating principles within the mind, when they are 
not external persons, but the Goods and Truths of the Word in 
the regenerating man, for the mind cannot at first conceive of 
these principles abstractedly, unless they are personified in the 
human form. Thus these Interior Principles are first seen as an 
external Face or Frontispiece. 

762. Next in order, these Divine Truths become Natural, as 
the mind perceives their relation to the Word, and endeavors to 
make a material reality of the spiritual History and Prophecies 
of the Word, by accepting and attempting to confirm all these 
spiritual narratives as physical facts, in addition to giving them 
an internal meaning, notwithstanding this disorderly method of 
interpreting the Spiritual Sense of the Word, and much conflic- 



336 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The portal. Significatives, Correspondences, Representatives. 

tion arises in the Rational Faculty concerning Appearances and the 
spiritual Reality, but the glimmering of light which shines from 
the Internal sense into the Natural principle constitutes the Gate 
or Portal which will surely be opened. . 

763. But when the Rational Faculty becomes the " Ruler " and 
" Governor " of these subordinate principles of the External mind, 
the whole Word will be seen in the clear spiritual Light which 
shines from the Internal Sense, and the names of persons, places, 
and things will be perceived to be purely significative and repre- 
sentative of Divine principles which culminate in the Literal 
Sense of the Word, and are thence received into the External 
mind as the Ultimate of the Word, and thus the Summary of the 
" Parts of Galilee " will appear in the Rational Faculty of the re- 
generating man. 

764. Significatives, in the Word, are the words them- 
selves, which denote spiritual principles. Representa- 
tives are the descriptions in historical order, or form of 
narration, which denote successive spiritual principles 
in the progress of regeneration. Correspondences re- 
late to things in the natural world which denote spiritual 
principles in the Word and man, such as the Eye, de- 
noting the understanding, the Ear, perception and 
obedience, the Heart, corresponding to love, the Lungs, 
denoting wisdom, etc., which give an analogy between 
physical, natural and spiritual things. 

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth : that 
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, 
He shall be called a Nazarene. Matt. 2 : 23. 

765. " And he came and dwelt in a city called Naz- 
areth," signifies that the enlightened Rational Faculty 
perceives the True Doctrine of Life within the Precepts 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 3S7 



A Nazarene. Elevation of the External mind. 



of the Literal Sense of the Word, separated from the 
Appaarances of Truth which the Proprium has hitherto 
rested in, during the obscure seasons of temptation, and 
thus the prophetic utterances of the spiritual history of 
the Word are actually fulfilled in the regeneration of 
man. " He shall be called a Nazarene," signifies that 
the exterior principles of the External mind shall be 
actuated by the Heavenly principles which have been 
represented in the Fifth Day of Creation, and from these 
principles the Literal Sense of the Word is perceived 
as Divine, because it contains the Natural Human Prin- 
ciple of the Lord, which is the Divine Truth in Ultimates, 
or the Son of Man, which is signified by the word 
"Nazarene." A "Nazarene" is a regenerating man 
whose interior and exterior life is actuated by the Affec- 
tion of Good, or the Celestial Principles of the Word. 

766. Thus the Lord alone, by means of the Word, 
elevates the principles of the External mind above the 
influences of the Proprium, and fills the Understanding 
with true intelligence concerning the Word, vivifying 
both the interior and exterior principles of the External 
mind with Spiritual Life. "And I raised up of your 
sons for prophets, and of your young for Nazarites. Is it 
not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord." # 



* Amos 2 : 11. 



338 THE FACE OF JESUS 



Interior affections. Reception of the Word. 



THE SIXTH DAY OF CREATION ; 

OE, 

THE SIXTH STATE OF REGENERATION. 

Six Days shall thou labor and do all thy work. Ex. 20 ; 19. 

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living crea- 
ture after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast 
of the earth after his kind : and it was so. Gen. l : 24. 

767. When the regenerating man has arrived at this 
State, his External mind, or " earth," is influenced by 
the interior Affections of the Internal mind which have 
been formed by the Goods and Truths of the Word, 
instead of the evil and false persuasions of his unregen- 
erated Proprium. The " earth" can produce no fruit 
unless the " seed" is sown and cultivated, neither can 
Goodness be produced from the External mind unless 
the knowledges of Truth from the Word are first im- 
planted whereby he may know what he is to believe 
and do. 

768. It is the office of the Understanding to receive 
the Truths of the Word, and of the Will, to do them, 
but before regeneration begins, a man may know the 
Truth, and have no desire to obey it, because the Truth 
of the Word is antagonistic to the evil and false prin- 
ciples of the Proprium, so that there is a divided mind 
which the work of regeneration is to bring into con- 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 339 



Winged fowl and living; creature. . Animals, 

junction. " Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, 
and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise man who built 
his house upon a rock : and every one that heareth these 
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto 
a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand/ 1 

769. In the Fifth State of Kegeneration, the principles 
belonging to the Understanding are signified by "the 
moving creatures of the waters," and the " winged fowl 
which fly above the earth in the firmament," but in the 
Sixth State, the principles of the Will are signified by 
the " living creature, cattle, creeping thing, and beast of 
the earth," and hence, the Word being written by pure 
correspondences, these principles of the Affections are 
represented by different kinds of animals in the pro- 
phecies and historical narratives. Beasts are of two 
kinds : the good, which are useful and harmless, and 
the evil, which are injurious. The Good Affections in 
man are signified by good and gentle beasts, such as 
cattle, sheep, lambs, etc., and the evil lusts are signified 
by bears, wolves, dogs, swine, etc. The Internal prin- 
ciples of the Word which actuate the Affections of the 
regenerating man, enter the External mind as they are 
revealed to the Rational Faculty, and come in conflict 
with the lusts of the Proprium, which they supplant with 
spiritual intelligence concerning the Literal Sense of the 
Word, and by obedience to its Precepts, the Affection 
for Goodness and Truth is formed, which is signified by 
" Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves : 
be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves." 



340 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The beasts of the earth. Cattle, 

770. The inferior things in man, which have more 
connection with the Corporeal principle of the External 
mind, and which are lusts and pleasures, are here called 
the " beasts of the earth." By " Creature," in the Word, 
is signified the man who possesses faculties capable of 
being reformed from evil. By " Living Creature," is 
signified Spiritual Life imparted to these principles 
according to their quality ; thus, " Go ye into all the 
world, and 'preach the Gospel to every creature" signifies 
that the regenerating man shall so live from the Spiritual 
principles of the Word, that the External mind, or 
"world," shall be regenerated, and thus announce the 
Coming of the Lord, or the revelation of the Internal 
Sense of the Word through every faculty of the Will 
and Understanding. 

771. This work must take place within the regenerat- 
ing man before he can practically announce to his fellow- 
men the Divine Gospel which proclaims the Advent of 
the Lord, or the Incarnation of the Human Principle of - 
the Word within the Will and Understanding of men 
who desire a new-created life according to the Two 
Great Commandments. Thus within all the receptacles 
of the mind of the regenerating man, shall "angels," 
" dragons," " mountains, and all hills " ; " fruitful trees, 
and all cedars;" "beasts, and all cattle;" "creeping 
things, and all flying fowl, Praise the Lord." 

772. By "Cattle," are signified those principles in 
man which are capable of being sanctified or made holy 
by regeneration. By "Creeping things" or "Reptiles," 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



341 



Reptiles. 



Appearance and reality, 



whose bodies are near the earth, and crawl upon its 
surface, are signified the corporeal or sensual principles 
of the External mind, and thus they signify the pleasures 
and voluptuousness of all the senses, which before re- 
generation lead men, because they are actuated by the 
lusts of the Proprium. 

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and 
everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind : 
and God saw that it was good. Gen. l : 25. 

773. In the preceding verse, the " earth" brought 
forth the " Living creature," the " Cattle," and " Creep- 
ing thing," by means of the Word, which is signified by 
" God said," and by the succession of these " creatures," 
is represented that the order of regeneration is first made 
manifest in the Corporeal principle of the External mind, 
because the regenerating man must be led from the 
corporeal and natural state of thought in which he is 
first born, to a perception of Spiritual thought from and 
within the Word. 

774. Thus regeneration proceeds from External to 
Interior principles, which is an Appearance as though 
the man accomplished it of himself ; but the whole work 
of regeneration is by and from the Lord alone, for all 
Spiritual Life and power is from Him within the inmost 
principles of Affection and Thought by means of the 
Word, and in this Sixth Day, the true order is revealed, 
for the regenerating man perceives that he is the Work 
of God, and because he begins to act from Love, as well 



342 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Lust. Voluntary and Intellectual pleasures. 

as Faith, he becomes a Spiritual Man. Thus the "cattle," 
the " beasts of the earth/' and the " creeping things," are 
re-created from disorderly lust to order and usefulness. 
By " lust " is meant all selfish delights and pleasures. 

775. The " Creeping things" are the most difficult to 
subdue, because the whole external life at first derives 
its pleasures and consciousness of existence from them. 
These Corporeal and Sensual principles are reduced to 
submission and order during the work of regeneration, 
when Internal principles acquire supremacy over the 
External, but before regeneration the External principles 
govern the whole man. In the progress of regeneration, 
the Lord rules over the Affections of the regenerating 
man by the Goods and Truths of the Word, and the 
joys which they occasion, sanctify the pleasures with 
which the external senses are delighted. 

PLEASURES. 

776. Pleasures are of two kinds, Voluntary, and Intellectual, 
or of the Will and Understanding. In a general sense the pleas- 
ures of the Will arise from the possession of land, houses, money, 
and religious, political or public honors ; they also result from 
mutual love, and the love toward young children ; and from 
friendship and social fellowship. Intellectual pleasures are excite ' 
by reading, writing, and acquiring all knowledges which fill th 
Understanding with wisdom. 

777. The pleasures of the senses are gratified by Sight, fro 
beholding beautiful objects of varied form and color; by Hear- 
ing, which is delighted with the sound of good instrumental an " 
vocal music ; of Smell, which is regaled by the odors of delicat 
perfumes ; of Taste, which is gratified by the flavors of agreeable 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD 



343 



Pleasures of the senses. Spiritual sight. 

and useful food ; and of Touch, which is so exquisitely sensitive 
with those who are deprived of physical sight. All the senses 
are designed to give enjoyment when used temperately and or- 
derly. Every recreation is allowable which is in harmony with 
the Precepts of the Word, but should be so governed by the Ra- 
tional Faculty as not to be indulged in to excess so as to interfere 
with the duties of life in the work of regeneration, or to unfit 
the mind for spiritual meditation. Earthly time is too precious to 
be wasted in trifling amusements which have no useful end, or 
which do not tend to the love of the neighbor. 

778. Earthly pleasures, being perceived by the senses of the 
External mind through the physical body are called Corporeal 
pleasures, although there is no pleasure experienced by the physi- 
cal senses which does not exist and subsist from its correspond- 
ing Interior Affection, and there is no Interior affection which 
does not exist and subsist from one which is still more Interior, 
in which is its use and end. While a man lives in a state of 
merely natural thought, he is insensible to the Interior delights 
which flow in order from what is Inmost, but it is impossible 
for any principle to manifest itself externally unless it has an 
orderly connection with what is Interior, therefore the pleasures 
of the senses can only consist of ultimate effects from a prior 
cause. 

779. Interior principles are not discovered by any man unless 
he possesses habits of mature reflection ; and they are mani- 
fested to the regenerating man in the order in which he is elevated 
toward Heavenly principles by the Lord. Unless there existed 
Interior Sight, the External eye could not see, nor could instruc- 
tion or pleasure be derived from objects of sight. Hence a man 
may see his spiritual surroundings in clear light, and those who 
are physically blind, may see the things of the spiritual world 
within the Word equally as well as those whose external sight 
has not been dimmed. A man during sleep, sees in his dreams, 
although his external eye is closed, and this same principle 
applies equally to the other senses. 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



I 



Purification from lust. The Heavenly Universe in Man. 



780. When the Lord has entered and rules the Proprium of the 
regenerating man, all the " creeping things " obey the Laws of 
Divine Order, and instead of being ruled by the Love of Self, 
they are purified from lust, and they add to the joy of life, for 
they are governed by the Spiritual principles of the Word, and 
and thus by the Lord. " In thy presence is fulness of joy : at 
Thy Right Hand there are pleasures for ever more." " And in 
that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the 
field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things 
of the ground" and he looks forward to a life of energetic use- 
fulness by which the spiritual welfare of his fellow-men will be 
benefited. 

781. With the unregenerated man, the filthy pleasures which 
originate from the lusts of his Proprium, to wmcn all his senses 
are then subservient, are also signified by " beasts," and " creeping 
things," according to the context of the words, and they also 
apply to the yet unregenerated principles of the Proprium of the 
regenerating man. " And he said unto me, Go in, and behold 
the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and 
saw ; and, behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable 
beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the 
%vaU round about." 

782. The Lord restores man to order by regeneration, and thus 
produces an Image of Heaven ; wherefore the regenerating man 
is drawn up and out of his Hell, or Proprium, and is elevated 
into Heaven, for every regenerated man is a minute Heaven, or 
an Image of ihe Universal Heaven, and hence in the Word the 
Internal mind is called " Heaven." As the Universal Heaven 
consists of regenerated men who are Images of the Divine Man, 
or the Lord, who is the Inmost Being or Life of the Word, it is 
in its Celestial and Spiritual Form as One Man which constitutes 
the Kingdom of the Lord, for the complex principles of the Word 
form this One Man. A man who is governed by the Precepts of 
the Word is a Kingdom of Heaven, for this realm is within him. 
"And God saw that it was good." 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



345 



Sensual principles, The Divine Man. 



783. The contrary is the state of those who make their life 
consist only in corporeal thoughts of external objects, in lusts and 
pleasures, and in the sensual gratification of the appetites, for 
they perceive no delight in anything which is not grounded in 
the Love of Self and the World, which culminates in hatred to all 
persons and things which do not favor them. With such men, 
corporeal and natural principles have dominion over the entire 
mind, and the Interior faculties are closed. They become Images 
of Hell, and the Proprium of such persons in the complex, becomes 
the antipode of Heavenly Order, and has the form of a malignant 
and infernal spirit, within which no other Lord than Self has the 
dominion. Such men do not regard the happiness of others, but 
look forward to a life of ease in which all things will serve them. 
The complex of the evil and false principles in man is called the 
Devil and Satan in the Literal Sense of the Word. 

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our 
likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of 
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, 
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing 
that creepeth upon the earth. Gen. 1 : 26. 

784. The regenerating man is now progressing toward 
a true Manhood, in which his Will and Understanding 
as receptacles of the Divine Love and Wisdom of the 
Word, are to be conjoined, so that he will become an 
Image and Likeness of the Divine Man, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, from whom all men exist and possess Spiritual 
Life. The Lord is to be thought of as a Divine Man, 
not in a physical body, nor in space and time, but accord- 
ing to the qualities of His Divine Love and Wisdom, as 
made known by the Interior Principles of the Word. 



346 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Thinking of the Lord, The Unity of the Word, 



785. The first thought concerning the Lord is formed within 
the External mind from the Literal Sense of the Word, in which 
He appears to the Corporeal principle of thought as a Man whose 
Voice is first heard in the fiat of Creation, and who is " walking 
in the garden in the cool of the day." Then in the form of various 
" angels " who represent Him, until He appears in the spiritual 
narrative of the Gospels, personified as the Son of Goi and the 
Son of Man, and if the mind cannot discern a more Interior mean- 
ing than the Literal Sense, a Father and a Son will exist in the 
thought as Two Persons, and confliction then arises in the mature 
mind, and hence originates many and varied doctrines formed 
from the self-intelligent opinions of learned men, by which the 
thoughts of others are guided, on account of which the simple 
Precepts of the Word become obscured. 

786. The only tangible way to think of and perceive the Form 
of the Lord, is to think of Him as the Inmost Life of the Word, 
and as the regenerating man resists and overcomes his evils, and 
receives Life from Him by obedience to the Truths of the Word, 
he will there discern the Divine Human Form as he is re-created 
into an Image and Likeness of God, who is The Word. As his 
natural life and thoughts at first depend upon the instrumentality 
of parents, or those who are provided to rear and teach him, so his 
spiritual thoughts depend upon the "angels" and " spirits," or the 
Goods and Truths of the Word, which are the only angelic per- 
sonifications which a regenerating man can perceive, for they re- 
create and bring salvation from sin, and constitute the presence 
of the Lord with man. Thus it is said, " Let us make man," which 
cannot be predicated of any finite instrumentality. 

787. " In our image," signifies according to the Spiri- 
tual principles of the Word, which are within the Com- 
mandment of Love to the Neighbor, and " After our 
likeness," signifies according to the Celestial principles 
of Love to the Lord. Thus the Two Principles repre- 
sented by "Image" and "Likeness," form the Unity of 
the whole Word which regenerates man. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



347 



Scientific discovery. Mutual love. 



788. It will readily be discerned that the apparent history of 
the Creation, has nothing in common with the supposed time of 
the physical creation of mankind upon this terrestrial globe, con- 
cerning which epoch nothing is known among the traditional 
records of the past. Every discovery in the scientific world, places 
the advent of humanity back to a remote and indefiinite period of 
time, concerning which, all speculation or conjecture will be of no 
avail in solving the mystery, which will always be as obscure as 
the calculations which have been made concerning the expected 
" end of the world." 

789. The " End of the World," to each regenerating man, is 
the consummation of a full spiritual State before a clearer reve- 
lation of the Divine Truth which is within the Word. Thus the 
"Day of Judgment" comes to every regenerating man in his 
preparation for Spiritual life, when the things of the natural 
world, and the Literal Sense of the Word appear to die, in the 
last conflict which takes place before the Heavenly Light from 
within the Word dawns upon his Rational Faculty, at the morn 
of his Resurrection, and thus each morning of spiritual progress 
becomes a new resurrection. 

790. Love toward the Lord makes the regenerating man One 
with Him, as a " Likeness ; " and charity, or Love to the Neigh- 
bour, makes him One with the Lord, as an " Image." When one 
person truly loves another as himself, or more than himself, then 
he sees the other in himself and himself in the other, which may 
be perceived by any person if he examines the nature of love, or 
those who love each other mutually ; for the will of the one is 
the will of the other, they being interiorly united as to motives, 
and only distinct in their individuality, which can never be made 
One Person, as with the Lord. His " Image " and " Likeness" is 
in the spiritual form of the regenerating man, by the conjunction 
of the Good and Truth of the Word. This union is signified by 
the union of the Father and the Son, or the unition of the Divine 
Love and Wisdom which takes place in the Will and Understand - 



348 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Ruling over the earth. The Word personified. 

ing of the regenerating man. "At that day ye shall know that I 
am in ray Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath 
my commandments, and Jceepeth them, he it is that loveth me." 

791. When this conjunction is effected in the regenerating man, 
the Internal mind rules over the " fish of the sea," or Sensual Af- 
fections of the External Mind ; and over the " fowl of the air," or 
thoughts of the Understanding; and over the " cattle" or Natu- 
ral Affections of Good and Truth ; and " over all the earth," or 
all principles of the External mind, even to the " creeping thing 
that creepeth upon the earth," or the corporeal pleasures which 
give delight to the senses, and this is the work of the Lord, by 
the conjunction of the Internal Sense of the Word with its cor- 
responding receptacles in the regenerating man, and no self -right- 
eousness can enter or be appropriated. 

THE FORM OF HEAVEN. 

792. Instead of thinking of the Lord as another man like 
men in the physical world, the commandments of the Word, 
which constitute His Personal Form, are to be loved and obeyed. 
This Word being in the form of Man, shapes the external mind 
of the man who receives its spiritual qualities into the mould of 
Heavenly Order, and he will thus become an angelic " Image " 
and " Likeness." When the regenerating man looks within the 
Word, he will see the Lord there personified to his spiritual vision. 
The Laws of Spiritual Life do not exist in any other place, for 
there alone is the fixed abode of the Lord, where the Corporeal 
and Natural principles of the External mind first receive the idea 
of the Person of the Lord as another man, until the Rational 
Faculty perceives Him as the Inmost Spiritual Being within the 
corporeal and natural expressions of the Literal Sense. This Word 
is " that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, 
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and 
our hands have handled of the Word of Life.'' 1 

793. When the mind, in its abstraction from earthly things 
and their Appearances in the Word, meditates upon the Divine 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 349 



The abode of the Lord. The Universal Heaven. 



Principles there personified, Spiritual Perception flows in through 
the Internal mind, which is Heaven, and is the abode of the Lord 
in the regenerating man. The Universal Heaven which consists 
of regenerated men, is in the Human Form thus created by the 
Divine Human Principle of the Word, in which the Lord mani- 
fests Himself, and within its Inmost Principle is the Divine Life, 
from which Heaven is formed and exists. The Universal Heaven 
is in the Human Form as One Heavenly Body in whom are all 
regenerated men who have been redeemed from sin by the "Word, 
which is there perceived as the Divine Man. It is this Body of 
Heavenly Instruction which the Lord takes upon Himself, and 
makes Divine by entering the life of each regenerating man indi- 
vidually, and unites to Himself by the conjoining Precepts of the 
Word. 

794. During all the ages of Eternity there has been no change 
in the Oneness or Unity of the Lord, for if His Love and Wisdom 
were fluctuating and changeable, there could be no Salvation 
from Sin. In order to accomplish this Salvation, he assumes the- 
Human Principle of the Literal sense of the Word, which He 
unites to the Divine Human Principle, or Internal Sense, in the- 
lives of those who by obedience and love are brought into con- 
junction with its Celestial and Spiritual Principles, which are in 
the Divine Human Form. 

795. The Universal Heaven which is in the Human Form is 
the Spiritual Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is formed by 
the qualities of the lives of those who have been redeemed from 
their sins by the Human Principles of the Word, — of Love to the 
Lord and the Neighbor. This Heavenly Body has been nourished 
by the Material Body of the Lord as it has been given in the 
Literal Sense of the Word. " And as we have borne the image of 
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." They 
who are governed by the Love of Self and the World do not re- - 
ceive the Body of the Lord when it is broken for them, and do 
not permit themselves to be re-created into the " Image " and 
"Likeness " of God. 



350 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Natural and Spiritual food. Male and female. 

796. The physical frame of man is sustained by those earthly 
substances which give it nourishment, and so the spiritual body, 
the External mind, receives its nourishment from the spiritual 
substances or doctrines upon which it feeds. If it feeds upon cor- 
poreal or natural thoughts alone concerning the Word, as given 
in the Literal Sense, the External mind becomes Corporeal and 
Natural in its thought of spiritual principles ; but if the Internal 
Sense of the Word is perceived as the true source of its Divinity, 
and the whole life is governed by its Two Precepts, the spiritual 
body of the regenerating man will be a miniature representative 
of that Heavenly Body which forms the Spiritual Body of the 
Lord. " For as the body is one, arid hath many members, and all 
the members of that one body, being many are one body ; so also 
is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body!* 
"Now ye are the Body of Christ!* With the individual regener- 
ating man, the Internal mind is the Spiritual Body of the Lord 
derived from the Internal Truths of the Word, for the Internal 
mind is " Heaven," and the Universal Heaven is formed by the 
lives of regenerated men. 

So God created man in His image, in the image of God 
created He him ; male and female created He them. 

Gen. 1 : 27. 

797. "Male and female, " signifies the two conjoining 
Principles from the Word in the mind of one regener- 
ating man, either male or female, for the words do not 
refer to the distinction of physical sex, excepting by the 
correspondence of spiritual principles with the laws of 
the physical world. The marriages which are narrated 
in the Word refer to the reception of its Celestial and 
Spiritual principles in the Will and Understanding, 
which constitute the Heavenly Marriage, which is com- 
pared to the happiness of the earthly marriage. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



351 



Medium of communication. 



Man and wife. 



798. As the Internal mind of the regenerating man is opened 
by obedience to the Heavenly Laws of Life, he receives his chief 
delight from the Internal principles of the Word, viewing the ex- 
ternal things of the Literal Sense as a medium to convey to the 
interior principles of the mind, the Heavenly Principles which 
they represent. Thus the things of the Literal Sense, as well as 
the objective things of the physical world, serve as means to lead 
him to reflect on what is Internal, or Spiritual, and from these to 
what is Celestial, and thus to the Lord Himself as the Inmost 
Life of these Principles, in whom his affections and thoughts are 
centered. 

799. In this manner he is led to meditate on the Celestial 
Marriage of the Will and the Understanding, by the union of the 
Divine Love and Wisdom within himself as a receptacle, and 
perceives why marriages are treated of in the Literal Sense of the 
Word, in order that they may be illustrative of heavenly felicity 
when the Internal Sense is perceived. For this reason the Word 
is so written, and the Understanding of the regenerating man is 
called "Male," and the Will is called "Female," which, when 
acting in unity, by obeying the Truth that is known, these two 
principles of the mind are spoken of as " married." A regener- 
ating man who is ruled by the Celestial principles of the Word is 
called " Daughter," and " Virgin/' as the " Daughter of Jerusalem," 
and also " Wife," from these names representing the Affection of 
•Good. 

800. " Male and Female," do not represent the marriage union 
in the regenerating man which is treated of in the Second chap- 
ter of Genesis under the name of "Man and Wife." "Male and 
Female," denote Truth and Good pertaining to the Intellectual 
Principle, or the Understanding, while " Man and Wife" denote 
Truth and Good pertaining to the Voluntary Principle, or Will. 
Truth cannot spontaneously of itself enter into a marriage with 
Good, although Good may do so with Truth, because truth is 
only made Living which is produced from, and thus united with 
Good ; for Truth abstracted from Good, or not incorporated into 
the life, is but an empty sound, and has no power. " Though I 



352 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Father and mother. Adam and Eve. 



speak ivith the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity r 
I am become as sounding brass, or a tin/cling cymbal" 

801. " Man," when used alone, signifies the perception of Good 
and the Understanding of Truth derived from the Word, and in- 
cludes all the spiritual principles represented by " Male and Fe- 
male," " Man and Woman," " Husband and Wife," " Father and 
Mother," " Son and Daughter," and " Brother and Sister." By 
" Man and Woman " is signified Intelligence from the Word unit- 
ed to the Affection of Truth. " Husband and Wife " signifies 
Truth in conjunction with Good. " Father and Mother" signifies 
Good in conjunction with the Affection of Truth. "Son and 
Daughter " denote Truth and Good ; for Truth, or the Son, is born 
from the Father, or Good, and " Daughter " is born from 
Good and the Affection of Truth, and all conceptions and births 
in the Word represented by " Sons and Daughters " have refer- 
ence only to the regenerating principles of the W T ord. " Brother 
and Sister " signifies the Affection of Good and the Affection of 
Truth in conjunction. 

802. It will be seen from the Literal sense that " Male and Fe- 
male " are created before " Eve " is mentioned, for the principle 
represented by the name " Eve " is not formed until the regener- 
ating man has arrived at the Seventh Day of Creation, described 
in the Second Chapter of Genesis, after the Six Days of labor 
and combat are passed, and the work of regeneration is consum- 
mated. "Adam" is then first mentioned, and signifies the Celes- 
tial principle of spiritual life, or the regenerated Internal principle 
of the Rational Faculty, and " Eve " signifies the regenerated Pro- 
prium of the External mind. 

803. The word " Adam " signifies " red earth," and the color 
" red " is predicated of the Good of Love, because it proceeds from 
the "fire" of the Spiritual Sun, The Word. "Eve" signifies 
" living," and thus the personification of the " mother of all liv- 
ing " represents the spiritual life which exists in the Proprium in 
place of the dead hereditary evils. Thus " Adam and Eve," in the 
" Garden of Eden," represent the holy Celestial and Spiritual state 
attained by the regenerating man, or the Golden Age. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



353 



One Man. Sons and daughters. 



804. The Two Great Precepts which create one regenerated life 
constitute the Word in the regenerating man, as the Infinite Law 
of the Eternal Heavens. Thus " Male and Female " exist as one 
man, for the Lord has created them as two conjoining principles 
within the mind of him who has chosen His ways of Life and 
Truth. 

And God blessed them; and God said unto them, Be 
fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and 
subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the 
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every 
living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1 : 28. 

805. "Be fruitful and multiply," signifies filling the 
" Earth," or External mind, with the Good and Truth 
of the Word, which constantly develop with more and 
more interior meaning as they are brought forth into 
the external life, and rule over all the principles which 
actuate the thoughts, speech and actions. When the 
Understanding is united to the Will, or Faith with Love, 
the External mind of the regenerating man is married. 
"For the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall he 
married." 

806. The fruits thence issuing which are of Truth, are called 
" Sons," and those which are of Good, are called " Daughters," 
which may be verified from many portions of the Word. The 
" Earth " is replenished when there is an abundance of Goodness 
and Truth ; and when the Lord blesses and speaks to man by the 
Word, and thus causes his spiritual life to bloom, there is a great 
increase of "fruit." "The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain 
of mustard-seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field : which 
indeed is the least of all seeds ; but when it is grown, it is the 
greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the 
air come and lodge in the branches thereof" 

w 



354 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



A grain of mustard-seed. The state of marriage. 

807. A " Grain of mustard-seed " is the goodness which a man 
thinks he possesses before he becomes spiritual, which is the 
" least of all seeds," because he then thinks that he does good of 
himself, and what is of himself is nothing but evil. After regen- 
eration has commenced, there is a beginning of Goodness in him 
from the Lord, but is the " least of all." At length his faith is 
joined with Love, or is manifested in Good Works; it grows 
larger, and becomes an " Herb ;" and at last, when the conjunc- 
tion is perfected, it becomes a " Tree," and then the " birds of the 
air," which denote Intellectual principles concerning the Word, 
" come and lodge in the branches," which are the scientific prin- 
ciples of the External mind. When a man is being regenerated, 
he is in a state of warfare on account of the remaining unregen- 
erated Proprium, and therefore it is said subdue it," and the 
Internal mind will " have dominion " over all the creatures of the 
" Earth," or External mind. 

MARRIAGE. 

808. The sacredness of the earthly relation of Marriage between 
husband and wife, is derived from the union of the regenerated 
Will and Understanding in the man or woman who is thereby 
filled with Heavenly Life ; and all happy marriages contain an 
inward spiritual conjunction resulting from both the husband and 
the wife mutually seeking the Life of Regeneration from the 
Word of God. The true earthly marriage of husband and wife is 
attained similar to the order of regeneration, and is not a spon- 
taneous outburst of affection which attains the Life of Heaven by 
an instantaneous conversion into felicitous unity of spirit. It is 
begun in the Natural Affections, without that Interior principle 
of Affection which must be formed through the removal of the 
Love of Self and the World, by means of the Truths of the Word. 

809. At the beginning of the State of Marriage, both husband 
and wife are governed by the External principles of the mind, 
and their delight in the society of each other is gradually chilled, 
as the faults of each begin to develop, until often there are states 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



355 



Ideality of the imagination. States of coldness. 



of aversion to each other. At the beginning, each views the other 
with that pleasing halo of romance which the ideality of the 
imagination projects, in which their own love is seen by them- 
selves as in a mirror, for this apparent affection is the Love of 
Self, although it appears like, and manifests itself as affection for 
another. But as Spiritual Affection in the regenerating man is 
only attained through combat and temptation, whereby the Truth 
enters and illuminates the mind, so true earthly conjugal love is 
only attained through self-denial, forgivness, charity, and the 
overcoming of the evil of the Proprium on the part of both hus- 
band and wife toward each other, and this work of regeneration 
must be mutual on the part of each. If one seeks the spiritual 
life of obedience to the Word while the other gives no heed, the 
conjugal principle of spiritual conjunction cannot exist, because 
attainment of the regenerate life must be reciprocal. 

810. At first they do not know each other, and in the ideal 
state which exists before marriage, the delight of one's own Self- 
Love being reflected back from the image of the other, closes the 
eye of judgment, until each imagines life to consist of dreamy, 
transcendental events, intermingled with the variegated hues of 
the rainbow, which the imagination fondly hopes to grasp and 
retain. But when Appearances begin to be dissipated, then the 
trials begin, and there is disjunction instead of conjunction. This 
disjunction must occur in order that they may learn to know each 
other through forbearance, and the effort to overcome evil, for the 
hereditary Proprium of each is to be conquered, and there are 
many states of coldness and harsh judgment on the part of each 
in the attainment of a higher love founded upon the Living Truth ■ 
of the Word. Without the Divine Love and Wisdom warming 
the Affections, and guiding by the Light of the Word, there can 
be no true conjugal love, although there may be much tender 
Natural affection. 

811. A husband and wife may live with each other in mutual 
sympathy many years, without antagonistic elements causing dis- 
agreement, but when the work of regeneration begins on the part 



356 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Antagonism. Divorce. 

of one, without the co-operation of the other, an antagonism often 
occurs which is hard to bear. This is especially true when one 
of the -pair is led to perceive the Internal Sense of the Word, in 
which the other has no desire to see its Divine teachings, and the 
separation of thought, which may for a while exist, must be 
patiently borne until the Light which so clearly shines to the one, 
shall so pervade the life with charity and tenderness, and persistent 
good-will, that the other may also be led to see the Lord within 
the Word. 

812. The one who possesses and carries the Light, must not 
leave the other to grope in darkness, for the affection which is 
warm from the Word, will enable the regenerating one to bear all 
things for the sake of the other without murmuring ; for what- 
ever trials any person may experience, are necessary helps in 
overcoming the Love of Self, and none are permitted to endure 
more than they are able to bear,, for " all things work together for 
good to them that love God." " For what knowest thou, 0 ivife, 
whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, 0 
man, whether thou shalt save thy ivife V 

813. A regenerating man will not take advantage of the earthly 
law of divorce, which is permitted on account of the " hardness 
of the heart," or absence of spiritual affection for the Good and 
Truth of the Word, and take to himself another wife, neither will 
he put away his wife, nor be an adulterer, for he will regard the 
spiritual welfare of her whom he has promised to love and cherish, 
notwithstanding the antagonism which may exist ; but if in her 
freedom she leaves him, not regarding his tenderness and for- 
bearance, he will do all in his power to help her without obtrusion 
or provoking her aversion. 

814. In the case of a regenerating wife whose husband is un- 
faithful, she must patiently bear what she is called to endure, 
with the consciousness that all earthly trials exist only in the 
External mind, and in the faithful performance of her duty, live 
in the Light which shines from the Word, knowing that the time 
in the physical frame is short, and the evil which she sees is but 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



357 



One partner. Loving the husband or wife spiritually. 



a reflection of the Self Love which yet exists in her unregener- 
atecl Proprium, which also exists in her children, and in all man- 
kind, until it is overcome by obedience to the Word, and strength 
will be given her to bear her trials. 

815. True conjugal love can be known only to those whose lives 
are filled with the Good and Truth of the Word, and can only exist 
between one husband and one wife; for as the marriage relation is 
an ultimate representative of the conjunction of the regenerated 
Will and Understanding, it can in no wise exist between more 
than two persons, and it must be mutual, so that the lives of 
husband and wife shall be reciprocal in the effort to overcome the 
evils of the Proprium by obedience to the Word. 

816. Marriages formed between two persons from external or 
corporeal affection alone, without the regenerating principles of 
Spiritual Life from the Word, are earthly, resembling the natural 
affection of animals. A marriage which is contracted from beauty 
of person, wealth, position, or any lower selfish motive, does not 
exist from conjugal affection, and is therefore nojb a true marriage, 
because it is from an external corporeal principle, yet it may be- 
come a true marriage when both husband and wife are led to live 
according to similar principles of Good and Truth from the Word, 
and when they progress together in the life of regeneration. 

817. In order to love another spiritually, instead of loving the 
personal attractions, such as the form, face, or talents, only those 
qualities are to be loved which dwell within the person from the 
Lord, otherwise, if the created receptacle is loved rather than the 
Regenerating Principles of Life which are from the Word, what 
is mistaken for love is but an insidious manifestation of the Love 
of Self, for natural affection is not spiritual love, but is a corre- 
spondence of it. 

818. As marriages are typical of the Spiritual Marriage in each 
individual^ the creation of Eternal Life depends on the earthly 
marriage of husband and wife, from whom immortal spirits are 
first born into the world, before they are fitted for the Life of 



358 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



Abortion. 



An important fact 



Heaven, and thus every angelic man has been born of some earthly 
father and mother, and speculation concerning the time of the 
origin of mankind becomes as much lost in the retrospect as 
conjecture concerning their future earthly condition. 

819. Hence the sacredness of marriage, which is the entrance 
of being to every immortal spirit, who, by the care of the father 
and mother, is to be educated for Heavenly Life, by living example 
and instruction from the Word. Hence the wicked crime of 
adultery may appear, which, through its lust, treats with contempt 
the sacred conception of immortal beings, and hence also may be 
seen the murderous crime of destroying the life of the unborn 
infant, whose soul is already forming within the unnatural mother, 
who, in order to gratify her sensual lust and Love of Self, de- 
liberately kills a life which God has created for immortal exist- 
ence. The crime of foeticide, or abortion, is secret murder. 

820. Earthly marriages between two persons, in themselves are 
only representative of the Two Spiritual Principles of the Word 
which re-create the two spiritual receptacles of the one regener- 
ating man, and the differences of physical sex, provided for the 
descent of earthly generations, do not exist in the Spiritual 
World, excepting by the laws of Correspondence, for the Spiritual 
Marriage takes place in each regenerating individual, and the 
Sons and Daughters which are the fruit of this Heavenly Marriage, 
are the multiplication of the Truths and Goods of the Word. The 
beginning of created human life occurs only in the physical world, 
for no persons are born regenerated, and the regenerated men, 
called "angels," have their first consciousness from the order of 
physical birth, no finite angels having been created except by a 
life according to the Literal Truths of the Word, which are the 
attendant spirits upon man, while in the world of natural 
thought. 

821. It is very important that the Rational Faculty clearly 
comprehends this fact, that physical sex and its correspondence 
with the Spiritual Marriage in the regenerating man, are distinct 
degrees, otherwise corporeal and sensual thoughts concerning the 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 359 



The lust of "Spiritual Affinity." The Heavenly Marriage. 



spiritual life will be formed in the mind, and the ultimate result 
will be spiritual adultery. Many an earthly home has been 
broken up by fallacious conceptions of the marriage relation, 
setting aside the legal contract and violating this sacred obligation 
under the name of " Spiritual Affinity," which covers the most 
intense lust of Self-Love. 

822. The regenerating man is either male or female as regards 
physical sex, and the Spiritual husband and wife is the Good and 
Truth of the Word, which are united in the male or female regen- 
erating man. The Goods and Truths of the Word form the 
" angels of God in Heaven." " For in the resurrection they neither 
marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God 
in heaven." " There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither 
bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all 
one in Christ Jesus." The name Jesus Christ signifies the Divine 
Marriage of the Love and Wisdom of the Word in the Will and 
Understanding of the regenerating man, and this is the true Con- 
jugial Marriage to which all marriages refer and represent in the 
historical and prophetic expressions of the Word . This Heavenly 
conjunction begets an internal state of happiness from which is 
born a spirit of usefulness to others, which fills the external life 
with delight, and life becomes a joy instead of the burden it 
appears to those who have not entered the Spiritual Marriage. 

823. The Heavenly Marriage within the regenerating man takes 
place in the Proprium, which, when it is regenerated, becomes 
the " Bride" and "Wife" of the Lord who is within the Internal 
mind. " Come hither, and I ivill show thee the Bride, the Lamb's 
wife. The " Lamb " is the Divine Human Principle of the Word 
of God which has entered the renewed Proprium of the regener- 
ating man. " Allelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him : for the mar- 
riage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready, 
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen > 
clean and white : for the fine linen is the righteousness of saiiits." 



360 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



mpurity. 



Carnal temptation. 



ADULTERY. 

824. Adultery includes every form of unchastity or filthy lust, 
and is the hellish opposite of marriage. They whose minds are 
filled with thoughts of impurity or obscenity cannot enter Heaven, 
because the corporeal principles of the mind are in the bondage of 
evil and falsity, which prevent the least entrance of spiritual 
principles, and they who indulge in impure conversation are 
adulterers. The fruition of earthly marriage is the creation of 
immortal spirits who are to be educated for the Life of Heaven, 
but the crime of Adultery brings into existence helpless infants 
with no loving parents to teach the Way of Life, and their heredi- 
tary natures thus begotten in carnal lust, lead them to sinful lives, 
and the effort to overcome evil will be attained through great 
difficulty. Yet the Lord cares for these degraded orphans with 
the same tender love as for those who enter life under more favor- 
able influences. The adulterer or adulteress closes every avenue 
to the Kingdom of Heaven, and is a devil incarnate who breaks 
every Commandment of the Word to gratify the diabolical lust 
of the Love of Self. " They commit adultery, and walk in lies ; 
they strengthen also the hands of evil doers, that none return 
from his wickedness" 

825. The life of an adulter or adulteress is not above that of 
the unclean beasts, because they have obliterated the suggestions 
of Conscience, and have destroyed the Human Principle which 
perceives the Divinity of the Word. Their life is opposed to all 
order, and after securing the objects of their lust, they conceive 
aversion toward them, and in the case of seduction, they lead their 
victims into degrading lives ; destroying in them also the desire 
for spiritual life, and thus they become murderers. Such is the 
wickedness of this crime, that every thing which tends to un- 
chaste thoughts should be guarded against in every form. The 
temptations to this sin arise from the Proprium, and the most 
severe conflicts throughout the work of regeneration occur from 
this carnal principle of the External mind, because this disorderly 
passion is the strongest and most seductive in its influence. "Let 
him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 3G1 



Filthy conversation. Purification from lust. 



826. Those who indulge in obscene thoughts and lascivious 
jesting, cultivate and inwardly confirm every lust which leads to 
Adultery. This carnal lust is first to be resisted by obedience to 
the Literal Command, " Thou shatt not commit adultery" and 
when it is more clearly revealed to the mind that the thought of 
Adultery, or unchastity, is sin, as the regenerating man calls upon 
the Lord, and fills his mind with the Truths of the Word which 
the Lord gives in answer to his prayer, his thoughts will be puri- 
fied from lust, and when he is inwardly tempted, he will exclaim 
m the language of the Word, "How then can I do this great 
wickedness, and sin against God ? " 

827. As all sin first exists in the intention, so if his mind is 
purified by the Word from this lustful temptation, he will not 
commit this great crime ; but there is no time during his earthly 
life but which he must be on his guard against the seductive and 
deadly influences of this spiritual murder. " Wherefore lay apart 
cdl filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with 
meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls." 
"Put off filthy communication out of your mouth." " The Com- 
mandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Every 
word of God is pure : He is a shield unto them that put their 
trust in Him." "In that day there shall be a fountain opened 
to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for 
sin and for uncleanness." " And I will put my spirit within 
you, and cause you to vjalk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my 
judgments and do them. I will also save you from all your 
■uncleanness." 

828. In order to obtain this victory in the purification of the 
sensual principle of the mind from all unchaste and wanton 
thoughts, the regenerating man will avoid all external temptation, 
and will ever heed the commandment, " Watch and pray, lest ye 
enter into temptation." All things which pander to sloth and 
self-indulgence must be discarded. All books and pictures, or 
forms of art which feed the carnal imagination, must be shunned. 
All corrupting dramas which pamper depraved thoughts must be 



362 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Intemperance. Stimulants and narcotics, 



proscribed from the sight and hearing. All trifling amusements 
and recreations which bring the sexes into undue familiarity with 
each other, should be banished. There should be a kindly reserve 
in acquaintances between the sexes, so that respect and reverence 
shall be cultivated and maintained for that sacred union which 
typifies the marriage of Spiritual Principles from the Word, within 
the life of the regenerating man. No power but the Truths of 
the Word, actuating the Will and Understanding, can overcome 
this deadly evil which is in the hereditary nature of man. 

Every avenue which leads to self-indulgence in any form, must 
be constantly guarded against the entrance of every evil, and every 
thing which tends to destroy the freedom of orderly thought, 
speech, and action. " Denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, 
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 
ivorld." Intemperance in eating and drinking must be eschewed 
and resisted. The Wine of the Word is not a physical liquor 
which excites the lower passions, enchaining the freedom of the 
Will, and which leads to the destruction of spiritual perception, 
but it is the quickening influence of the Spiritual Truth of the 
Word, stimulating the interior life with principles which elevate 
the nature of man above selfish lusts. 

A regenerating man cannot conscientiously indulge in the use 
of intoxicating beverages which inflame the evil spirits of his 
Proprium, and he will not only abstain from their use, from an 
internal rational principle, but in true love for the neighbor, he 
will not present the temptation to others, in any form, from the 
false custom of mistaken courtesy. 

He will not indulge in the use of either stimulants or narcotics. 
With an inward desire for purity, he will not be under the in- 
fluence of such habits as the use of tobacco, which is so typical of 
the Love of Self among earthly-minded men, neither will he, for 
the sake of gain, assist in dispensing to others, either stimulants 
or narcotics to pamper their self-indulgence, and thus aid them in 
fostering habits which will hinder the entrance of pure Spiritual 
Life from the Word. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



36S 



Care of the physical frame. A putrefying corpse, 



In order that the regenerating Principles of the Word may have 
their ultimate culmination in the purification of the corporeal and 
sensual receptacles of the External mind, and be efficacious in the 
purification of the physical frame from disease and its adjuncts^ 
the frail tenement of man must be tenderly cared for and pre- 
served in health. It must be cleansed from all impurity, and 
every precaution observed in guarding it from every obstruction 
which will prevent the orderly operation of its complicated organs* 
so that it may be instrumental in fulfilling the law of Love to the 
Neighbor, instead of being a hindrance to the spiritual progress 
of its possessor, and a burden to others. Where its functions are 
mpaired by disease, he must patiently bear with its infirmities, 
using every effort for restoiation to health, knowing that it is 
but a temporary habitation, and he must patiently bear the bur- 
den until his release. 

829. They who commit adultery close the doors of Heaven 
against themselves, for they are immersed solely in worldly and 
corporeal things, and the Good and Truth of the Word cannot 
enter their Rational Faculty. If they speak reverently of the 
things of the Word and religion, and appear devout in the exer- 
cises of public worship, as many adulterers and adulteresses do, 
their speech is only from the External memory and from the lips? 
actuated by Self Love or the love of gain ; for the Internal mind 
is closed, and cannot possibly be opened except by earnest repent- 
ance and a pure life according to the Precepts of the Word. The 
lust of unchastity corresponds to the putrefying odor from a dead 
human body filled with a malignant and infectious disease? 
blotched and decomposing in the heat of the sun. 

If persons abstain from the sin of adultery from any other 
motive than because it is commanded in the Word, " Thou shalt 
not commit adultery" they are interiorly unchaste, and are- 
adulterers, although they may live chastely in their external 
lives. If they abstain from this sin from fear of detection and 
consequent loss of reputation and honor, from fear of contracting 
loathsome diseases, or from simple physical and moral reasons, as 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



nternal purity, 



Spiritual food. 



not respectable and becoming, or from pride or selfishness, their 
motives are not pure, for there can be no interior chastity which 
is not derived from loving obedience to the commandments of the 
Word, which teach that all sin is contrary to the elevation of the 
spiritual nature to principles of Heavenly Life, which are Love 
to the Lord and the Neighbor. 

830. Those who take delight in adulteries cannot receive the 
<jood and Truth of the Word, and they deny the Divinity of 
these Spiritual principles, because the love of Adultery originates 
from the compact of the evils and falses of the Proprium which 
exist there on account of the loss of spiritual perception, and 
which are fostered by the false doctrines favoring the Love of 
Self which are confirmed by the Appearanses of Truth in the 
Literal Sense of the Word, when the state of a man's life is evil 
and false. When these false doctrines are dissipated, and the 
Commandments of the Word are not obscured, but are the guide 
of the spiritual life, the minds of the obedient will be purified, 
and earthly marriage will be reverenced as a Holy Ordinance and 
as the Seminary of Heaven. 

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bear- 
ing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and 
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding 
seed ; to you it shall be for meat. Gen. 1 : 29. 

831. The Celestial principles of the regenerating man 
are treated of in the Second Chapter of Genesis. These 
principles are delighted with Celestial things alone, which 
being agreeable to his life, are called Celestial Food. 
The Spiritual principles are delighted with the Spiritual 
Food which is signified by the " herb bearing seed," 
which is every Truth which regards usefulness. ' ' Which 
is upon the face," signifies the Interior principle of the 
External mind, which is the Rational Faculty. " Every 
tree, in the which is the fruit yielding seed," signifies all 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 365 



The Marriage Supper. The Holy Communion, 

the knowledges which the Lord gives from the Word to 
the regenerating man. " His delight is in the Law of 
the Lord : in His Law doth he meditate day and night. 
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, 
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf shall 
not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." 

THE HOLY SUPPER. 

832. "Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage 
Hupper of the Lamb." A Supper is representative of reciprocal 
communion of thought and kindred desire, therefore all feasts 
which men provide for the delights of their fellow-men, are signi- 
ficative of the joy of mutual fellowship, in a higher or lower de- 
gree, as these feasts pertain to the realm of thought or to the 
bodily appetites. The Marriage Supper is expressive of the joy 
and peace arising from the conjunction of Good and Truth from 
the Word within the regenerated Proprium. The food signifies 
the Divine Love made Good or alive from Affection, and the drink 
signifies the Divine Wisdom received and made Truth, or Faith, 
from the Word. The " bread " which is eaten, and the " wine" 
which is drunken, signify the whole Word of God, which is to- 
be obeyed from principles of love, and its Internal Truths are to 
be imbibed by rational study, with all the powers of the mind. 

833. This is the true Communion Service, of which all external 
forms are but typical. A man who is being regenerated, partakes 
daily of the Lord's Supper. Every Truth from the Word which 
he imbibes and obeys, is wine and bread for the support of his 
spiritual body. Every meal of which he partakes, is representa- 
tive of spiritual nourishment from the Word of God. This repre- 
sentative emblem of the Marriage Supper is the Word, which is 
within the access of every man who desires spiritual life, and it is 
of Eternal importance to partake of this Spiritual Food, which 
contains the Bread and Wine of Heaven, and which is the actual 
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with men. " Lo ! I am ivith 
you alway." 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The pleasures of the External mind. 



Warfare, 



And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of 
the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the 
earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green 
herb for meat ; and it was so. Gen. 1 : 30. 

834. The Natural Affections are signified by the 
" beast of the earth." The Natural Truths received 
from the Literal Sense of the Word, are signified by the 
"fowl of the air," and all the delights and pleasures of 
the senses which are governed by spiritual principles, 
are signified by "everything that creepeth upon the 
earth, w r herein there is life." These principles of the 
External mind are nourished by " every green herb." 
By " Herb," is signified the Truths of the Literal Sense 
of the Word, and by "Green," is signified that which is 
sensitive and living, and thus all the Natural Truths of 
the Word are made alive, and feed all the hunger and 
thirst of the External mind, when the Internal Sense is 
revealed and understood, and thus the Word supplies 
the Spiritual and Natural Food which support's Eternal 
Life. " The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He 
maketh me to lie doivn in green pastures." 

835. The External mind, in its natural principles, is supported 
by food consisting of the " green herb," because this is the order 
in which man is regenerated. While he is being made spiritual, 
there is continual warfare between the illuminated Rational 
Faculty and the unregenerated Proprium, on which account he is 
in a Militant State, for before regeneration begins, the lusts of the 
Proprium have dominion, with the falsities thence originating. 
During regeneration, these evils and falses cannot be instan- 
taneously removed, for that would destroy the freedom of man 
and take away his individuality. Therefore the evil spirits, or 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



367 



The evil spirits of the Proprium. The Atoning Sacrifice. 



the evils and falsities of his Proprium are permitted to excite his 
cupidities or selfish affections, which by innumerable modes may 
be so much weakened by the Truths of the Word, as to be in- 
clined to Goodness, and thus the man be reformed ; for in order 
that evil may be removed, 'it must be seen as evil, and then be 
resisted and shunned as something hateful. 

836. In the time of combat, the evil spirits of the Proprium 
exercise the utmost hatred toward the Good and Truth of the 
Word, or the Divine Love and Wisdom therein, and at such times 
the Internal Sense is so obscured that the regenerating man has 
nothing left but Natural Food, which is compared to the " green 
herb," or the Living Literal Sense. At intervals the Lord gives 
him glimpses of a more Interior meaning, which becomes the 
Spiritual Food of the " tree yielding fruit," and the " herb bear- 
ing seed," which is the Food of tranquility and peace, with their 
joys and delights. 

837. Unless the Lord defended man every moment, even the 
smallest part of every moment, he would instantly perish in 
spiritual death, or relapse into the power of Self Love, in conse- 
quence of the indescribably intense and deadly hatred with which 
the evils and falses of his Proprium are filled toward the Goods 
and Truths of the Word, and thus the Lord. In order to redeem 
mankind from this spiritual death, the Lord has entered the 
Natural world of the External mind, by assuming the Literal 
Sense of the Word as a covering, or Mediator, whereby the natural 
mind may approach the Internal Sense, which is " God manifest 
in the flesh," or the indwelling of the Divine Love and Wisdom 
in the respective receptacles of the regenerating man, and thus 
the Literal Sense of the Word becomes the Intercessor between 
God and man. 

838. By resisting the evils and falses of the Proprium accord- 
ing to the simple Truths of the Literal Sense, which plainly 
declare the duty on the part of man, the Atoning Sacrifice is 
accomplished by the Lord in the regenerating man, through the 
sacrifice of his natural hereditary delights of evil and falsity, and 



368 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Very good. The Sons of God. 



as the Good and Truth of the Word enters, Atonement, or con- 
junction of the Lord with man is effected, and he is redeemed 
from sin. " Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live ; and so the 
Lord, the God of Hosts, shall be with you. Hate the evil, and 
love the good, and establish judgment in the gate" 

And God saw everything that He had made, and, be- 
hold, it was very good. And the Evening and the 
Morning were the Sixth Day. Gen. 1 : 31. 

839. The culmination of this State of the regenerating 
man is called " very good," because principles of Truth 
or Faith make one with Love, and the Heavenly Mar- 
riage is consummated between Spiritual and Celestial 
principles. All things which relate to the Understand- 
ing of the regenerating man, such as Knowledges of 
Truth, or Faith, Intellectual principles, and Thoughts, 
are called Spiritual, and all things which relate to the 
Will, such as Love to the Lord and the Neighbor, 
Goodness, and the Affections, are called Celestial. 

840. The times and states of the regeneration of man in general 
and in particular, are divided into Six, and in the Word are called 
the Days of Creation, for hy degrees he is elevated from a state 
of spiritual death, in which he possesses none of the qualities 
which properly constitute a Man, until hy successive states he 
attains to the Sixth Day, when he becomes an " Image" and a 
"Son of God." "And it shall come to pass, that in the place 
ivhere it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall 
be said unto them, Ye are the Sons of the Living God." " But as 
many as received Him, gave He power to become the Sons of God." 

841. During these states of warfare against his evils, the Lord 
continually strengthens him and confirms him in the Divine Good 
and Truth of the Word, which is the power He gives in the time 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



369 



The work of God. Redemption. 

of combat. The time or state of warfare is the Day of the Lord's 
operation, and therefore the regenerating man is called-the "Work 
of God/' and he advances in spiritual progress until Love becomes 
his ruling principle, and then the combat will cease. The number 
Six signifies combat, and also the conjunction indicated by being 
double the number Three. 

842. When the work of regeneration is so far perfected tnat 
Faith is conjoined to Love, it is then called " very good," because 
the regenerating man has become made in the " Likeness of God." 
At the close of the Sixth Day, the " evil spirits " of the Proprium 
depart, and the Goods of the Word succeed in their place, when 
he is introduced into the Celestial principle of Heavenly Life. 

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all 
the host of them. Gen. 2:1. 

843, The regenerating man is now rendered so far 
Spiritual as to have arrived at the entrance of the 
Seventh Day. The principles of the Internal and Ex- 
ternal mind, with the Love, Faith, and the Knowledges 
thereof, as the " Sun, Moon and Stars," are signified by 
the " Host of them," and when the Celestial principle of 
Love begins to rule, the Work of Redemption is finished, 
and the. regenerating man is saved by the Lord, for the 
" earth" or External mind is redeemed by the Word. 
" I have glorified thee on the earth; I hate finished the 
work thou gavest me to do." " I have redeemed thee, I 
have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine, I, even I, am 
the Lord ; and beside me there is no Saviour" 



x 



370 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Peter, James, and John. 



An Interior vision. 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 

And after Six Days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John 
his brother, and bringeth them up into an high moun- 
tain apart, and was transfigured before them ; and his 
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white 
as the light. Matt. 17: 1, 2. 

844. " Peter" signifies a Rock, and a Rock signifies Truth or 
Faith. "James" signifies Love, or Charity, and "John" signifies 
the Good Works of charity. The rest of the " disciples" represent 
Goods and Truths derived from these three principles, in the same 
manner as the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and the three names, 
"Peter, James and John" signify the same as the Twelve, or all 
" His brother" signifies the Affection of Good. It is at the end of 
a state of combat with the Proprium, that " Jesus," or the Divine 
Love, " bringeth them up into an high mountain," by which is 
signified the elevation x>f the Rational Faculty to perceive the 
Celestial principles within the Word. No person can see the 
"Glory of the Lord" within the Word, unless he is principled in 
a Rational Faith, and in the charity grounded therein, and mani- 
fests the living goodness of that Love to the Neighbor. Others 
are capable of beholding this " glory," but they do not see it, be- 
cause they do not live the life which leads to the opening of the 
spiritual sight. 

845. The Transfiguration signifies the opening of the percep- 
tions of the Rational Faculty to see that the Son of God is the 
Interior Truth of the Word received into the life, and that the 
Word of God is the Divine Humanity, made clearly manifest to 
the Spiritual Vision of the regenerating man, as a culmination of 
all his combats with the Proprium. This is a Vision which will 
never be effaced from his Interior memory, for he has been faith- 
ful unto the death of his evils and falses, and this is the crown of 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 371 



The shining Face. 



Communication and conjunction. 



life whose lustre can never be dimmed, and this "glory" will ever 
more lighten his pathway. 

846. By " His face did shine as the sun," is signified the inflow- 
ing of the Interior Divine Truth into the Rational Faculty from 
the Divine Love. By " His raiment was white as the light," is 
signified the perception of the Divine Truth within the Literal 
Sense of the Word, which is the clothing of the Internal Sense, 
and " Raiment," as well as " Light " signify the Divine Truth pro- 
ceeding from the Lord. 

And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias 
talking with him. Matt. 17:3. 

847. By " Moses" is here signified the Historical or Represen- 
tative Word, and by " Elias," is signified the Prophetical Word. 
By "talking with him," is signified the communication of percep- 
tion to the Rational Faculty that the Internal Sense of the 
Historical and Prophetical forms of expression treats of the same 
Celestial and Spiritual principles of regeneration. 

Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is 
good for us to be here ; if thou wilt, let us make here 
three tabernacles ; one for thee, and one for Moses, and 
one for Elias. Matt. 17:4. 

848. To "answer" signifies communication, and to " say," signi- 
fies perception, thus " Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus," 
signifies the communication of Divine Truth from the Word, and 
the perception that it is from the Lord, and " It is good for us to 
be here," signifies the Heavenly state of the three principles 
represented by " Peter," " James," and " John," when vivified by 
the Interior Good and Truth of the Word. " If thou wilt," signi- 
fies the inflowing of the Divine Love, and " Let us make here 
three tabernacles," signifies the conjunction of the Good and Truth 
of the Word into the Life, by regeneration, which has led to this 
Celestial state signified by "Three Tabernacles" in which the 
Divine Humanity of the Lord is seen, 



372 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The tabernacle. 



The beloved Son. 



849. The " Tabernacle " in the Word is made of " wood," which 
signifies Good, while the " Temple" is made of " stone," which 
signifies Truth. " Three tabernacles " signify the Celestial prin- 
ciples of the Word. " One for Thee " signifies the Divine Love. 
" One for Moses," signifies the Divine Wisdom, as " Moses" repre- 
sents the " Law," which is the Divine Truth of the Word, and 
" One for Elias," signifies the Divine Proceeding, for " Elias" or 
" Elijah," signifies the Prophetic Word. A " Prophet " signifies 
True Doctrine from the Word, and the teaching of the Interior 
Good and Truth of the Word which culminates in a regenerated 
life, is the Divine Proceeding. Thus the "Three Tabernacles" 
signify the same principles of the Word as " Father," " Son," and 
" Holy Spirit." 

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed 
them : and behold a voice out of the clouds, which said, 
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased ; hear 
ye him. Matt. 17:5. 

850. " While he yet spake," signifies the continuance of this 
State of Perception. " A bright cloud overshadowed them," sig- 
nifies the Literal Sense of the Word within which is the Internal 
Sense, and in which the First Advent of the Lord is made. "Be- 
hold He cometh in clouds, and every eye shall see Him." " Ye men 
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus, 
%vhich is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like- 
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven!' " Overshadowed " 
signifies from within, or above (§180), and these Celestial and 
Spiritual principles of the Word are clothed by the Literal Sense. 
"Behold, a voice out of the cloud," signifies annunciation, or com- 
munication of Divine Truth from the Word, for a " Voice " is pre- 
dicted of speech, and the Word is the " Yoice " of the Lord, and 
this Word communicates the expression, " This is my beloved 
Son," which signifies that this " beloved Son " of the Literal Sense 
is the Lord's Divine Humanity, or the Interior Divine Truth of 
the Word thus personified. " In whom I am well pleased," sig- 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 373 



The Second Advent. _ Sacred fear. 



nifies that this revelation of Divine Truth is from the Lord alone, 
and the Divine Humanity cannot be manifested in any other form 
than from the Internal Sense through the Literal Sense. " They 
shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory." This revelation of the Internal Sense 
of the Word to the regenerating man is the Second Advent of the 
Lord. " Hear ye him," signifies to obey these Interior Divine 
Truths of the Word. 

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, 
and were sore afraid. Matt. 17:6. 

851. " And when the disciples heard it," signifies that when these 
Interior Truths are taught from the Word, the regenerating man 
obeys them. " They fell on their face," signifies humility of heart 
and self abnegation on account of the perception of these Interior 
Truths. " And they were sore afraid," signifies adoration from 
the most profound humiliation and holy fear from a consciousness 
of utter unworthiness. 

And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and 
be not afraid. Matt. 17:7. 

852. " And Jesus came," signifies further inflowing of perception 
from the Divine Love. " And touched them," signifies the recep- 
tion of this revelation of the Word. " And said, Fear not," signi- 
fies the raising up of the Interior life by the Lord while in this 
state of holy fear. When life enters from the Lord in place of the 
hereditary Proprium, everything which pertains to the man as a 
receptacle of life, is dead, and a sacred fear is felt in the interiors 
of the mind even to their ultimate principles. 

And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no 
man, save Jesus only. Matt 17 : 8. 

853. "And when they had lifted up their eyes" signifies the 
elevation of the thoughts toward the Interior Truths of the Word. 



374 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



The right and left eye, Descending from the mountain. 



or Eternal Life, and this elevation can come only from the Lord 
by the Word. The "Eye" signifies the understanding, for as the 
physical eye sees from natural light, the regenerated understand- 
ing sees from the Spiritual Light of the Word. The right eye 
corresponds to the Affection of Good, and the left eye to the Af- 
fection of Truth, which two affections are united when the 
Rational Faculty is elevated by the Lord. The sight of the left 
eye corresponds to the intellectual principle of Truth, and the 
sight of the right eye corresponds to the Affection of that prin- 
ciple. No man in his own strength can look above himself, and 
therefore "no man," or Proprium, is seen in this Transfiguration 
of the Word in the regenerating man, for this revelation of its 
Interior Divine Truth is not originated by any man, neither can 
it be seen from the Natural or corporeal principles of the External 
mind. 

854. "Jesus only," signifies the Divine Love within the Word, 
for "No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begot- 
ten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared 
Him" The " Only begotten Son," is the Divine Truth of the 
Word which the regenerating man obeys and makes living. The 
" Bosom of the Father," signifies the Spiritual Truth of the Word 
which proceeds from the Inmost Life of Divine Love, and when this 
Love and Truth permeates the life of the regenerating man, the In- 
terior Truths flow clearly into his Rational Faculty. 

And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus 
charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until 
the Son of man be risen again from the dead. Matt 17:9. 

855. This elevation of the Interior Affections and Thoughts is 
represented as being upon a " high mountain," from which the re- 
generating man must descend to attend to the active duties of the 
natural life, which will be governed by these Celestial and 
Spiritual principles, and although the warm heart is burning with 
the desire to communicate this Holy vision to others, so that they 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



375 



Imparting the vision. The essential principles of Faith. 



may see this " Glory " within the Word, a perception is communi- 
cated to the Rational Faculty to impart this vision to " no man" 
until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead," which signifies 
that the regenerating man must yet be on his guard lest the evils 
and falses of his Proprium obscure this Interior Perception, until 
these Divine Truths are confirmed from the Literal Sense by 
being incorporated into the life , while literally is meant that in 
the desire to communicate these Interior Truths to others, careful 
discrimmination and judgment should be exercised that they shall 
not be distorted and profaned by those who cannot receive them, 
and they can only be communicated and received by such persons 
who by individual experience have been led to feel that there is 
an Interior meaning to the Literal Sense uf the Word. 

856. The Transfiguration signifies the Glory of the whole Word 
in its Internal and Literal Sense, when its Good and Truth is re- 
ceived by the re-created receptacles in the regenerating man. The 
Word is then proved to be the Lord himself, for nothing which is 
created and finite can redeem a man from his sins, and lead him 
into the Life of Heaven. " Receive- with meekness the ingrafted 
Word, which is able to save your souls." 

THE LAST TEMPTATION. 

857. As all the incidents narrated in the Spiritual History 
within the Word have their Heavenly culminations in the lives 
of regenerated men, it is not essential to salvation from sin to be- 
lieve that a physical Man was literally crucified upon a cross of 
wood many centuries ago in the land of Palestine, but it is essen- 
tial to Salvation, to believe and live according to the Precepts of 
the Word. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Fountain of Eternal Life 
within the Word, and the Son of God whom men have created in 
their systems of religious doctrine, are not identical ; but the Divine 
Truth of the Word, and Mie Son of God there personified, are one 
and the same God. Should all records of earthly history be swept 
out of existence, the spiritual history contained within the Literal 



376 



TEE FACE OF JESUS: 



A mighty fortress. Sufferings of the External mind. 



Sense of the Word would remain the same for the natural degree 
of thought to receive first in the order of regeneration. With 
this perception of the Literal Sense of the Word, the mind will 
not waver or be shaken in faith when its enemies attack it in 
any form, for its Divine Precepts become axioms which are seen 
to be Eternal, the origin of which is anterior to the limitations of 
time and space. 

858. The Lord is crucified in " Sodom and Egypt," in " the 
great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where 
also our Lord was crucified." * The " Great City," is the false 
doctrine originating with the Love of Self, and sanctimoniously 
confirmed from the Appearances of Truth in the Literal Sense of 
the Word. " Sodom," signifies the evil of Self Love, and "Egypt," 
in the evil sense, signifies the self-intelligence and scientifics of 
the natural principles of the mind which pervert and obscure the 
plain Living Truths of Love to the Lord and the Neighbor, which 
are characteristic of false religious doctrines, confirmed from a 
merely literal interpretation of the Word. 

859. The incidents and historical narrations of the Gospels are 
true in the history of the states of the regenerating man, and are 
there only to be seen as actual facts. The trials and temptations 
of the Son of man, ending with the Passion of the Cross, are rep- 
resentative of the sufferings of the External mind during the com- 
bats of regeneration by the Truths of the Word. This is the 
Last Temptation, when the evils and falses of the Proprium have 
their last struggle with the entrance of the Divine Truth of the 
Word, and this last struggle is so severe, in whatever form it may 
be experienced, that all that belongs to the External mind seems 
to perish, and in this state of death, the Literal Sense of the Word 
seems also dead, or to have no Divinity within its expressions, 
and the temptation nearly prevails to reject and cast aside that 
Word of God which has so sacredly been handed down from one 
generation to another. 

* Rev. 11 ; 8. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



377 



Extinction of natural light. Failure of every earthly help. 



And when the sixth hour was come, there was dark- 
ness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And 
at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, say- 
ing, Eloi ! Eloi ! lama sabachthani. Mark. 15 : 33, 34. 

860. In this hour of darkness, all light from the natural world 
is extinguished, and all the material ideas of the regenerating man 
concerning Heaven are taken from him, and even his previous 
thoughts concerning Immortality, which have been the ground of 
his strong hope, and a great resource for his self-intelligence to 
draw from and discourse about, — all disappear, and nothing finite 
can give him any help. He has seen his cherished friends and 
hopes pass out of this earthly existence, and he knows that he 
himself must soon follow. " And it ivas about the sixth hour, 
and there zuas darkness over all the land until the ninth hour." 

861. The number "Six" denotes Combat, while the number 
" Nine," signifies Conjunction. The " Sixth hour " is the state of 
devastation and destruction which exists in this last and greatest 
temptation before the conjunction of the Internal Sense with the 
Literal is clearly seen, and the desolate spirit of the regenerating 
man, who has long intellectually accepted these principles, is 
brought to the experimental proof of his Affection for the Truth, 
and as he is actuated by the power of the Living Truth of the 
Word, he now with a " loud voice" in agony cries, " My God ! my 
God ! why hast thou forsaken me ? " 

862. As every earthly help fails him in this hour of his struggle, 
and as the "waters" are about to overwhelm him in oblivion, he 
finds himself lifted upon a Rock, alone in his individuality, with 
nothing left of this world's effects but the Word of God, which he 
firmly clasps in his hands, and which says to him in this " Sixth 
Hour," " Vfhen thou passest through the waters I will be with thee. 
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." 

863. Here alone he finds Eternal Truths which in themselves 
are Immortal, and which clothe him with Immortality. The 
desire to know the future originates from the love of evil, and it 



378 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Confidence in the Divine Providence. 



Implicit trust 



is taken away from those who believe in the Divine Providence, 
because they have confidence that the Lord will order all their 
ways. " Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat ; neither 
for the body ivhat ye shall put on, but rather seek ye the Kingdom 
of God." No man can know his own future, or any hidden event 
before its occurrence, for such fore-knowledge would prevent his 
becoming regenerated. 

The dead do not impart the secrets of the future existence of 
any man, and none whose physical bodies have been dissolved in 
the grave, have ever returned to their former life, neither do they 
who are gone communicate with the mind of man, excepting by 
their writings or traditions in which their thoughts and lives have 
been incorporated. The Word itself, which reveals the Spiritual 
Principles of the Regenerate Life, and exhibits their development 
and growth in men, as well as illustrating the" effects of their re- 
jection both in its Literal and Internal Sense, gives only the manna 
which must be gathered and eaten To-Day, and does not lift the 
veil to disclose the mysteries of the actual future of any individ- 
ual man, for such a disclosure would not only prevent his progress 
in the attainment of spiritual life, but would destroy his confidence 
in the Divine Guidance of the Lord, so that instead of becoming 
regenerated, he would lead and confirm himself in an increasing 
state of self-love, which would defeat the object of his creation. 



The principles of Immortality, or Eternal Life, are contain- 
ed only in the Living Precepts of the Word, which, when obeyed, 
continually lead to an increase of Heavenly Love and Intelligence ; 
while the disobedient continually lead themselves away from the 
Lord, or the Word, to a state of Spiritual Death. " To-day " is 
always an Eteknal Now, and True Faith, according to the Interior 
Truth of the Word, leads the regenerating man to give up all self- 
intelligent conjectures, and material ideas concerning the future 
existence, and the Word teaches him to trust implicitly in the 
Lord as a little child, and receive the gift of Eternal Life from day 
to day, and from state to state. 




THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 379 



Elias. The superscription on the cross, 



And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, 
said, Behold, he calleth Elias. Mark 15 : 35. 

864. " Elias/' signifies the Prophetic Word, and this narrative 
of the crucifixion is the prophetic utterance of the Last Tempta- 
tion of the regenerating man when he earnestly seeks the Divine 
Truth of the Word. In the darkest state of the spiritual obscurity 
which covers his mental vision, he bows his head in humility as 
he hears the Voice of Divine Love saying " It is finished" which 
signifies the consummation of this temptation, and in response, 
with his whole heart he says, " Father, into thy hands I com- 
mend my spirit." When this surrender of self occurs, and his life 
is sincerely consecrated to the Good and Truth of the Word, the 
" veil of the temple," or the Appearances of Truth which obscure 
the Literal Truths of the Word, is " rent in the midst," or interior- 
ly opened, by the Divine Truth from within. 

865. Now the "Glory of the Lord" shines forth from the Internal 
Sense of the Word, and the regenerating mind is raised from this 
Last Temptation, in which all the evil powers of the Proprium 
have united to crucify the Son of Man. Thus the Lord suffers in 
each regenerating man, by the Word, for the " sins of the world." 
When the Proprium is overcome and surrendered, the real Resur- 
rection takes place, at the consummation of the Sixth Day of 
Labor, and the Seventh Day becomes the beginning of the Holy 
Week of the External mind, which will be purified from the 
hereditary evils and falses, " for the Lord has risen indeed," and 
appears to the " disciples " within the Living Truths of the Word 
as they are revealed by the Internal Sense. " And I will raise 
him up at the Last Day" 

866. The Superscription on the Cross is " written in Hebrew, 
and Greek, and Latin," which is placed at the head, over the cru- 
cified Son of Man, and signifies the whole Word of God, by means of 
which the regenerating man is enabled to bear the cross, or the 
temptations from his Proprium, and overcome them. In the 
Literal Form of the Word the " Hebrew " represents the Natural 



380 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



Hebrew, Greek and Latin. The key to the Latin personifications. 



principle of the Word as it appears in the external rites of the Old 
Testament, which in themselves are representative of Celestial and 
Spiritual principles. The " Greek," represents the Divine princi- 
ples of the New Testament, which are clearer in their doctrine 
concerning Celestial and Spiritual principles, but which are also 
significative, while the " Latin " signifies the Internal Sense of 
both the Old and New Testament, and therefore of the entire 
Word, and represents the Intermediate Principle of Conjunction 
which is received by the Rational Faculty of the regenerating 
man. While the Revelation of Divine Truth externally written 
in Hebrew and Greek, consists of the Representatives and 
Significatives (763) of the spiritual principles of Regeneration, 
the principles of the spiritual world revealed within the Internal 
Sense of the Word, when illustrated in the Latin writings,* are 
there also personified, and these illustrations are to be interpreted 
by the Science of Correspondence, the key to which they also 
furnish to the Rational Faculty of the Regenerating man. 

* Arcana Ccekstia, Apocaiypsis Explicata, Apocaiypsis Revelata. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



382 



The Seventh Day of Rest. Keeping the Sabbath, 



( 

THE SABBATH. 

And on the Seventh Day God ended his work which he 
had made ; and he rested on the Seventh Day from all 
his works which he had made. Gen. 2 : 2. 

867* The Regenerating Man is now called the " Seventh Day,' J 
for the number " Seven " signifies a Holy State which has been 
attained by the Work of the Lord during the Six Days of Crea- 
tion, and the combat between Spiritual principles and the Pro- 
prium having ceased, it is here said that the Lord " rested on the 
Seventh Day." On this account the Seventh Day is sanctified 
and called the Sabbath, from a Hebrew word signifying " Rest f 
and thus man has been created from the " dust of the earth," or 
earthly principles of thought, and by the Living Truths of the 
Word, has been formed into the Image and Likeness of God. 

868. Among all nations and people who have possessed the 
Word one day in seven has been set apart for Instruction from 
the Word, and the cessation from physical labor, and this external 
observance is derived from its correspondence with the culmina- 
tion of the Work of Regeneration. This work should occupy 
the chief thoughts of every man, and he should bend every energy 
of mind and body in entering the way which leads to Life Eter- 
nal, by the study of the Word and obedience to its Precepts. 
With the regenerating man whose daily life is one of constant 
worship, all days of labor afford religious instruction, for in every 
earthly object and event, he sees its spiritual correspondence in 
the Word, within his own mind, and he acknowledges the Lord in 
all his ways, and permits Him thus by the Word, to direct his 
paths. 

869. In obedienee to the Commandment, and for the sake of 
others who perceive only the Literal Sense of the Word, he will 
keep the weekly Sabbath as a day of special religious instruction 



382 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Sabbath of the Word, Heavenly peace. 

and communion with other minds, and refrain from pursuing his 
daily avocations, enjoying its hours of rest as typical of the cessa- 
tion of his spiritual warfare. " The Sabbath wns made for man 11 
and every man possesses the faculty for attaining the Heavenly 
State for which he was created. In the highest sense, the Lord, 
or the Word, is the Sabbath, for therein is found rest for the 
spirit of man, when distracted with the cares and anxieties of the 
External mind, or " earth." 

And God blessed the Seventh Day, and sanctified it ; be- 
cause that in it he had rested from all his work which 
God created and made. Gen. 2 : 3. 

870. The Blessing of God, signifies His presence by 
the Truths of the Word, which now fill the External 
mind of the regenerating man of the Seventh Day, whose 
life is now blessed with tranquillity and joy. The peace 
which now comforts him is from the Word which sheds 
Divine Light upon all the ways of Divine Providence, 
for he has confidence that the Lord governs and pro- 
vides all things which he needs, and that with those 
who obey the Word, all things lead to Good. In this 
State of Peace he fears nothing, and no solicitude con- 
cerning the future, gives him any anxiety. 

871. All evil, and especially self-confidence, takes away this 
state of peace. It is commonly believed that an unregenerated man 
has peace when he is in gladness and tranquillity arising from 
general success in his worldly affairs ; but this is not true peace. 
It is the delight and tranquillity of selfish love, which counterfeits 
a state of peace. With the regenerating .man, as the exteriors of 
his mind are successively unfolded to receive the Interior Prin- 
ciples of the Word, even to the Inmost Principles, Peace is the 
Inmost joy of every delight, and he is affected with Eternal 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 383 

Successive weeks. The First and Second Advents. 

Happiness, the origin of which is from the Lord Himself by means 
of His Word. After each Sabbath of Regeneration, a new week 
of labor is to be begun, for the finite receptacle of life must 
always receive and advance toward perfection, which can never 
be fully attained, for the Infinite Lord within the Word alone 
contains Perfection in Himself. 



THE LIFE OF REGENERATION. 

872. Regeneration by the Word is a constant and 
Eternal state of Spiritual progression, and the finite 
mind will always be a receptacle of increasing Love and 
Wisdom. " For since the beginning of the world, men 
have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the 
eye seen, 0 God, besides Thee, what He hath prepared 
for him that waiteth for him. Is. 64 : 4. 

873. In the successive degrees of regenerate life, the 
first state of a man's life is Natural, from which he be- 
comes Moral, and thence he becomes Spiritual, for he 
must first obey the Literal Commands of the Word, 
which constitute the Moral Law, before their Interior 
Truths can be revealed to him and create the Spiritual 
and Celestial degrees of his mind. 

874. The First Advent of the Lord, in the order of 
regeneration, is His entrance to the External mind by 
obedience to the Truths of the Literal Sense of the 
Word; and the Second Advent of the Lord is the 
opening of the Rational Faculty of those to whom He 
has made the First Advent, to perceive the Internal 
Sense of the Word, which reveals Jehovah God, or the 



384 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The order ot regeneration. - The history of all men. 

Lord Jesus Christ, as The Word, within the Divine 
Truth of which manifestation He can only be found. 

" Be ye therefore ready also : for the Son of Man cometh 
at an hour when ye think not" Luke 12 : 40. 

875. Beginning with the fourth verse of the Second Chapter of 
Genesis, the formation of the Celestial principles of the Regenerat- 
ing man are coherently described ; concerning which these pages 
do not treat, they having relation simply to the Spiritual degree 
of the mind in relation to the Word. The Third Chapter of 
Genesis treats of the principles of the External mind which cause 
the Fall of human nature from the innocent and holy state oi 
Celestial and Spiritual Life, from which exists all the sin and suf- 
fering which deluges the Spiritual and physical nature of mankind. 

876. The twelfth chapter of Genesis begins with the true history 
of the order of the entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into the life 
of the regenerating man, which is depicted by pure correspondences 
under the form of the historical narrative of " Abram " in the 
Literal Sense, the Internal Sense of which cannot appear to any man 
until he has entered upon the State there described, and which 
cannot be seen if the mental sight is confined to the literal form 
of history as though these circumstances were fixed physical events ^ 
for the Truths contained within these Correspondences must be 
entirely abstracted from the Literal Sense. " Abram " there does 
not represent a physical earthly patriarch, but the Lord, who is 
within the Internal mind of the regenerating man, entering the 
External mind in the successive order of Infancy, Childhood and 
Manhood, through the Enlightened Rational Faculty, into the land 
of the Proprium. 

877. The whole Word of God thus becomes representative of 
the various states of not only one, but of all regenerating men in 
their griefs, trials, and temptations, as well as in their seasons of 
delight and peace, and it describes the malignity of the evils of 
the unregenerated Proprium in order that men may resist the in- 
fluences of the Love of Self and fear to trust in their own self in- 
telligence. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



385 



The entrance of Divine Truth. Honoring the pulpit 



THE PULPIT AND THE PEESS. 

878. In the common order of religious instruction, the teaching 
of the Truths of the Literal Sense of the Word are enforced upon 
the mind through the sense of hearing, by means of the influence 
of the pulpit, or the voice of the clergy. " So then faith cometh 
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." In the order of 
religious education these ministrations will not cease. The power 
of speech is given man so that he may communicate to others the 
thoughts which flow into his mind, and as the object of creation is 
the regeneration of men, the gift of speech attains its highest use 
when it is employed in communicating Truths from the Word, 
rather than in the utterance of self-intelligent speculations. 

879. The great power of the pulpit consists in reaching the de- 
gree of natural thought in men with living lessons drawn from 
the fountain of the Literal Sense of the Word, awakening them to 
obedience, and this method of instruction will always prevail, for 
in all the successive ages of time, natural thought concerning the 
Word must first exist, as all men must first be born in the physical 
world, and first be taught from external objects, and no man has 
ever been born, or will ever be born with inherent regenerated 
principles of spiritual life. 

880. Therefore the pulpit, which represents oral religious in- 
struction, is to be honored by men for the sake of the Word which 
it solemnly declares, and which stimulates them to live according 
to its Truths, Until each hearer who is addressed from the Sacred 
Desk, makes a personal study of the Word, and in its application 
endeavors to live according to its Precepts, and thus is prepared to 

perceive its inner meaning, until then, the Truths of the Literal 

Sense must form the burden of all preaching. When the clergy 
themselves recognize the Internal Sense of the Word, judgment 
will be given them to adapt their illustrations, so that those who 

Y 

\ 



386 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Spiritual Universe of the Word. A printed memory, 

are in natural thought only, may be led to the perception of 
spiritual life, and thus to perceive that the Word is Divine from 
its interior principles of holiness. 

881. Since the majority of men do not reflect interiorly, and 
their minds are fully occupied with the duties and cares of this 
life, the influence of the pulpit will not retrograde, but will con- 
tinue to be the great power of lifting them up above worldly life, 
by presenting in varied forms, the fundamental laws of spiritual 
life, w^hich inculcate Love to the Lord and the Neighbor, for upon 
these two things depend all the principles of the Spiritual and 
Natural Universe of the Word, and all things in the physical uni- 
verse also have reference to these two principles of Eternal Life, 
by the laws of correspondence. 

882. The inculcation of a holy life according to the Com- 
mandments, by looking to the Lord within the Word, and 
resisting all evils of life, when proclaimed by one whose own 
life is in harmony with all the teachings of the Word, causes the 
pulpit to be instrumental in preparing the way for the perception 
and reception of the Internal Sense by those who are able to bear 
it. " / have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them 
now!' Thus the Pulpit is representative of the Literal Sense of 
the Word. 

883. The printing of thoughts in religious books is also a 
Divine means of spiritual instruction for the promulgation of 
more interior thoughts concerning the Word, for the reason that 
all the expressions are fixed in their record, so that they may be 
referred to in their coherent order. An orderly prepared book is 
a printed memory which may be consulted for confirmation of the 
subject of which it treats. In listening to the words of speech, 
the mind is occupied with the meaning expressed within the 
words in the order of their delivery, and there is no opportunity 
for reflection and comparison, other than awakening thought 
which will lead to subsequent investigation. In a book of in- 
struction, its primary declarations may be investigated, stored 
within the memory, and the succeeding principles may be built 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



387 



Nourishment for the Rational Faculty. Study and reflection. 



up in regular progression, with the opportunity of reference, for 
the purpose of establishing the instructions there presented. 

884. The Internal Sense of the Word can only be made coherent 
to the mind of a regenerating man whose Rational Faculty has 
been enlightened, and which is in active occupation in meditation, 
comparison, and the rejection of every false principle of thought 
or doctrine. There can be no growth of this Spiritual faculty, 
without the employment of the means of nourishment provided 
through the instrumentality of the Press, which is from the Lord, 
for He is the Author of every spiritual help, and of every inven- 
tion which flows into the minds of men for the benefit of man- 
kind. (§306.) 

885. The Word itself is held and preserved in its Literal Form 
by means of the printing-press, as formerly by the slower and more 
limited method of writing. Text books, such as dictionaries, 
grammars, concordances and collateral writings, are held in form 
and are presented to the mind by means of the press, and the re- 
cords of the principles which teach the laws which reveal the 
Internal Sense of the Word to the enlightened understanding, are 
also fixed in printed language. These principles must be studied 
by the affectionate searcher for the Truth, and also are to be inter- 
preted by the interior thoughts there recorded, to prevent their 
spiritual instruction being perverted by minds possessing only 
natural and material ideas concerning Divine principles. 

886. From the means thus afforded for study and reflection, 
and hence giving opportunity in freedom for the acceptance or re- 
jection of recorded thoughts, while the mind is in the interme- 
diate state of receiving instruction, the Press becomes representa- 
tive of interior thought, or of the Internal Sense of the Word. 

When the instruction of the Pulpit is carefully prepared from 
the Word, and is recorded in printed form so that it may be read 
and stored within the memory, and by reflection be confirmed and 
accepted as true, and afterwards be brought forth in the life, then 
the utterance of the Pulpit from first being external, becomes re- 
presentative of internal principles when issued from the Press. 



388 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The conversion of the world. Subjective principles 



887. The Pulpit and the Press are the external and internal 
methods of imparting spiritual instruction concerning the Word, 
and are therefore united as means employed for the conversion of 
the world to holiness of life. The Voice of the Pulpit declares 
outwardly, so that the sense of hearing may convey to the mind 
the truths of life embodied within the sounds, while the Voice 
of the Press conveys to the mental eye in printed forms, not only 
the same truths of life, but the means of higher mental develop- 
ment concerning the Word, which would be impossible to attain 
by oral instruction alone, without the aid of books. Although by 
means of speech and writing, or printing, the Truths of the Word 
are first taught objectively to the natural degree of thought, they 
become subjective principles of Divine Life, when they are in- 
scribed, or printed upon the heart, or Will, for from this interior 
affection they will then be externally manifested in all the con- 
versation and actions of regenerating men, who are the Angels 
thus created by the angelic Life of the Word, " which is Christ in 
you, the hope of glory : whom we preach .warning every man, and 
teaching every man in all wisdom ; that we may present every 
man perfect in Christ Jesus ;" " To the acknowledgment of the 
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ ; in whom are 
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Col. 1 : 2 — 2 : 3. 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 389 



The Rock of Ages. The surrender of self. 



CONCLUSION. 

" And the booh is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, 
Read this, I pray thee and he saith, 1 am not learned!' Is. 29 : 12. 

" And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the booh, and 
the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of dark- 
ness." Is. 29 : 18. 

888. At the " Beginning" of Spiritual Life, the regen- 
erating man desired to know the Source of the Inspira- 
tion of the Word, and in the progressive order of his 
re-created life, he is shown its Divinity by its Internal 
Evidence, and that it is the Fountain of all Spiritual 
Life and Immortality, and that this Divine Truth in the 
Ancient Records which have been handed down from 
generation to generation, is the Bock of Ages, which 
alone is the foundation of the "Earth," and endures 
when all other things perish. When men wholly sur- 
render themselves to its Divine Teachings, they will see 
its " Water" and its " Blood," as it flows from the 
" Wounded Side," or Heart of the Divine Love, and 
saves from the " Wrath," or evil and falsity of the hered- 
itary nature, and which alone can save men from their 
sins. Then will they see the Divine Truth of the Word 
as the " Judgment Throne," on the " Last Day," when 
all things of Self and the World are closed in their 
spiritual death, and then in the simple trust of an en- 
lightened Bational Faith will they discern the Spiritual 



£90 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The use of sacred music. The spirit of charity. 

significance of the Word of God, and also comprehend 
an interior meaning in such familiar hymns as 

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee." 

889. When a beautiful piece of sacred music is well 
sung, there are some who are delighted with the sound 
of the melody and harmony proceeding from the culti- 
vated voices which vibrate in sympathy with the words 
which are being clothed with concordant tones. When 
these external sounds have ceased, there remains in the 
mind, the thoughts within the words which have been 
conveyed through the instrumentality of the music, and 
if the Truths therein are obeyed and incorporated into 
the life, these harmonious sounds have performed their 
highest use, in the elevation of the natural thoughts 
above earthly things. But there are some listeners 
whose minds are not moved so much by the sound of 
the music and the voices, as by the Truths which are 
uttered within the melody and harmony. 

890. Every man receives impressions of the Truth 
according to the obedience and quality of his individu- 
ality, and if he understands the operation or form of the 
human mind, he will not expect the mental features of 
other persons to be cast in the mould of his own face. 
He will therefore have charity for others, and be inwardly 
delighted, if by any means they may be brought to see 
the Lord within the Word, and led to perceive the Glory 
of its Internal Sense. If he has more light than his 
neighbor, he will not arrogantly assert himself as more 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOB. 391 



Led by the Word. The recognition of Truth. 

highly favored, for the more light that a man receives 
concerning the nature of the Word of God, the more he 
recognizes his own weakness, and in humility feels that 
he is only a receptacle of life from the Lord, and his own 
hereditary self-hood will be removed to the farthest 
extreme from the Fountain and Center of Life. He 
wall thus be led solely by the Lord through obedience 
to the Word. 

891. He will seek to aid others through the Truths 
which shine from the Literal Sense of the Word, and 
will rejoice when he sees them in the endeavor to live 
in the loving kindness of the Commandments. His 
charity will be so warm with affection for the Word 
that he will not thoughtlessly give offence to others by 
hastily destroying that form in which the Divine Truth 
first reaches their minds, and discretion will be given 
him, if he sinks himself, so that he will be led to com- 
municate the Light from the Internal Sense where it 
will be received into willing hearts without being pro- 
faned or misunderstood. 

892. His judgment will be led by knowledges from 
the Word, as he is filled with good- will toward men, 
and his own mind will dwell in peace. Instead of be- 
ing antagonistic toward the religious tenets of others 
who do not perceive the Interior Principles of the Word 
which are vital to him, he will recognize Truth in any form 
which is derived from the Word, and be willing to extend 
the hand of religious fellowship to all who make the 
rule of their life according to the Precepts of the Word, 



392 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



A living witness. The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ 

893. Living without offending the "little ones" who 
are in the innocent life of charity, he will not ruthlessly 
take away their Lord by the uncharitable presentation 
of his elevating doctrines, but his "Light will so shine," 
as he consistently walks through the daily journey of 
life, that others will intuitively recognize him as a living 
witness of the Divine Truth which has created him a 
son of God by means of the LIuman Form of the Word. 

894. There are many devout souls who love to think 
of the Lord Jesus Christ as a Divine Man on this ter- 
restial globe, going about doing good, healing the sick, 
casting out devils, restoring sight to the blind, folding 
the little ones to tlis Heart, feeding the hungry, and 
teaching all men to " Bless them that curse you, do good to 
them that hate you, and pray for them ivhich despite/ally 
use you" If they thus obey the Divine Precepts, He 
will reveal Himself unto them within the Word, and en- 
able them to live the Life which He teaches by the Word. 

895. There are others who see Him personified in the 
Word which they love and obey, and their thoughts clo 
not go back to earthly events, but they perceive the 
Lord Jesus Christ present in every part of the Word by 
the Internal Sense, and recognizing that the External 
mind of the regenerating man is the " Earth" into which 
He is born, and perceiving the Humanity which He 
there assumes in the Literal Sense and makes Divine 
by the Internal Sense, they see Him in the Human 
Form of the Word as within the Spiritual Sun which 
illumines the Heaven of the Internal mind. 



! 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 



393 



Influence upon others. Prior existence of the Word. 

897. Upon the Doctrine of Eternal Life embodied 
in the Two Precepts of the Word, all who recognize 
the Internal Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, may 
strengthen each other in the journey of life, by shunning 
all evil as sin and death, and looking to the Lord within 
the Word. Thus will their affections be warmed toward 
each other, and others be led to the Word, through the 
effects of its Divine Human Form incarnated in the 
lives of those who believe and manifest its Humanity. 
" He tliat hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he 
it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me shall be loved 
of my Father, and I ivill love him, and ivill maw f est my- 
self to him" 

897. There are some natures whose degree of faith 
requires that they must see the sheathing husk as well 
as the enclosed kernel of wheat ; while there are others 
who readily discern the nourishing grain, with the know- 
ledge that in its growth it has been clothed with its pro- 
tecting husk. The wheat itself is the Doctrine of Love 
to the Lord and the Neighbor brought forth into the 
life, and this is the Fundamental Truth upon which all 
religious minds actually unite. From this fruit of the 
"Earth" of the Literal Sense of the Word, the spiritual 
life of all devout people is nourished and sustained in 
their Heavenly voyage. " He maketh peace in thy bor- 
ders, and fillest thee with the finest of the ivheat." 

868. The Word of God has existed prior to all the 
traditions of apparent earthly history which, have been 
derived from its external or Literal contents, (John 1:1) 



394 



THE FACE OF JESUS: 



The Catholic nature of the Word. Who may see its Divinity 

and the Internal Evidence of this Divine Revelation 
illustrates that the Principles contained within the 
Internal Sense are of a Universal or Catholic nature, 
independent of the many and various forms of religious 
worship which are prevalent. All Rituals, whether 
simple or elaborate, which honor the Word of God, will 
be found to contain a Correspondence with the Heavenly 
Truths taught from the coherent Interior understanding 
of this Word. 

899. When the Rational Faculty is led to discriminate 
between the Appearances of Truth which exist in the 
Literal Sense, and the Actual Truth, by being enlight- 
ened through a life according to the Precepts of the 
Word, the Internal Sense will find welcome reception, 
and will lead all the powers of the mind to rest firmly 
on that Rock of Ages in which there is Everlasting 
Strength. The Rational mind of the regenerating man 
is the " House," in which the Lord enters and dwells by 
means of the Divine Truth of the Word. "And the 
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds Meiv, 
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was 
founded upon a Rock" Matt. 7 : 25. 

900. From the thoughts presented in the preceding 
pages, which simply treat of a few principles beheld 
within the Holy Temple, from its threshold, glimpses of 
the Divinity of the Letter of the Word may be seen by 
such readers who love the Truth of Spiritual Life for its 
own sake, or "for Christ's sake" On the Earth of its 
Literal Sense may everywhere be seen traversing each 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 395 



The Ark of the Covenant. Beholding the Face of Jesus. 

highway and byway, over mountains veiled in clouds, 
and down through fertile valleys, a golden chariot of 
Heavenly Doctrine, drawn by white horses, bearing in 
radiant glory the Ark of the Covenant, within which 
are the Two Tables of Stone holding the inscription of 
those Precepts which form the Foundation of Immor- 
tality. 

yui. jjurmg tne past ages or ear tiny nistory, while 
the Science of Spiritual Correspondence has been con- 
cealed within the Literal Sense of the Word on account 
of the low degree in which material thought concerning 
Divine principles has been immersed, its Living Truths 
have been revered in the hearts and lives of the 
obedient ; tabernacles, temples, houses of worship, and 
grand cathedrals have been erected to enshrine its sacred 
pages, and disseminate its Divine Teachings, and thus 
the Lord has protected The Word, which, through the 
clouds of its Literal Sense, has shed its radiating heat 
and light, until those who are prepared to receive it 
have affectionately yearned for more Light concerning 
its Heavenly Principles, " to fulfil the Word of God; 
even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from 
generations^ but now is made manifest to His saints" 
Col. 1 : 26. 

902. The Lord has now permitted the veiled covering 
to be reverently removed for the Spiritual Sight of these 
regenerating men, so that they may behold the Living 
Face of Jesus, which shines as the Sun, for it is the 
Lord Himself who is manifested by the Internal Sense 



396 



THE FACE OF JESUS : 



The Lamb of God, The Second Coming. 

of the Word, and who supplies this Sun with warmth 
and light. 

903. " Behold the Lamb of God ivhich taketh away the 
Sin of the world! " By beholding this Lamb of God, the 
Divine Humanity of the Word, in the innocence of child- 
like affection, and by partaking of His " flesh," by re- 
ceiving this Word into the life and thus causing it to 
shine through the speech and actions, the External mind 
will become re-created in the Image and Likeness of 
the Word, and the spiritual countenance, or the form of 
the affections and thoughts, will correspond to the Face 
of J esus. Thus the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in 
His Second Coming to those who receive Him as the 
Life of the Word. " When He shall appear, we shall be 
like Him, for ive shall see Him as He is" 



SUMMARY. 

904. The Summary of this Interwordian Doctrine 
concerning the Nature of the Sacred Scriptures, as out- 
lined in the preceding pages, teaches that ; — 

The Word of God in its Literal Sense is written 
purely by the correspondences of the names of persons, 
places and things, with its Interior Principles of Divine 
Love and Wisdom. This Internal Life which is received 
into the minds of regenerating men, is personified to the 
natural degree of thought in the names of Jehovah God 



THE NATURE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 397 



The Divinity of the Word. Spiritual facts. 

in the Old Testament, and of Jesus Christ in the New 
Testament, who are One and the same Lord, and the 
Interior Truth of this written Word is the Son of God, 
of whom it treats. Its record of apparent historical 
narratives, prophecies and miracles, instead of having 
been physical events of past earthly annals, are facts of 
true experiences in the order of regeneration from 
natural to spiritual life, and the Divinity of the Word 
of God is derived from its Internal Celestial and Spiri- 
tual Principles, which culminate in its Natural Principle, 
or Literal Sense, and not in the apparent occurrences of 
the external past, nor in the physical coincidences of 
ancient history. 

If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come 
to nought ; but if it be of god, ye cannot overthrow it. 
Acts 5 : 38. 

THE TEUTH OF THE LORD ENDUEETH FOE 
EVEE. Ps. 117 : 2. 



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